5. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: Housing, Poverty and Communities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:47 pm on 15 September 2020.

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Photo of Llyr Gruffydd Llyr Gruffydd Plaid Cymru 5:47, 15 September 2020

(Translated)

Thank you, Minister, for the statement. I noted what you had to say about the work to tackle homelessness and to increase the number of social houses available. I had hoped to hear more from you in the statement on how the Government is going to use the planning system to tackle the inequality and the increasing unsustainability in housing markets in many communities across Wales, driven mainly, as I referred earlier this afternoon, by the increase in the number of second homes that we're seeing in many communities across Wales. It's a trend that's also driven by the fact that we are now seeing more people moving from cities and highly-populated areas to rural areas in Wales as a result of COVID-19.

We are facing an increasingly unsustainable scenario. Many people in counties such as Gwynedd can't afford to buy homes in the counties in which they live, work and were brought up. I saw a statistic that 40 per cent of all the homes sold in Gwynedd last year were bought as second homes. So, I want to hear from you as a Minister what your intentions are in terms of using the planning system to tackle this inequality and unsustainability as other areas within the UK have done and as other nations in Europe and beyond have also done.