9. Short Debate: The power of co-operative housing solutions in helping to meet housing needs in communities across Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 7:10 pm on 23 October 2019.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 7:10, 23 October 2019

I'm sorry, I didn't speak very loudly. I used to work for a building society that’s now part of the Nationwide that you mentioned, and also as a voluntary member of a housing association board. I'm delighted you've brought this forward and emphasised that these are co-operative mutuals, and members pay £1 and they have a vote in their organisation.

The transfer associations you've mentioned have, by and large, adopted the Welsh housing quality standard plus model, which is about people unlocking the strengths and developing sustainability in communities, and that was brought forward by the Chartered Institute of Housing way back in a previous Assembly. In north Wales, Cartrefi Conwy and Cartrefi Cymunedol Gwynedd have adopted this. But how, Minister, can we ensure that that tenant’s voice, that resident’s voice is also heard, and that the WHQS model is applied as a positive in the 11 councils that retained their stock, but where the same issues apply?