6. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: The Innovative Housing Programme Year 4 — Modern Methods of Construction/Modular Special

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:39 pm on 3 November 2020.

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Photo of Delyth Jewell Delyth Jewell Plaid Cymru 5:39, 3 November 2020

We obviously welcome the building of more social housing and more innovative methods of doing this. There's a lot in the statement that we do welcome. I'm also pleased to see that this has been used in retrofitting, as that's also a really important area to go at. Perhaps, Minister, you could outline whether a similar approach could be used in bringing empty homes back into use and made suitable for people to live in. That remains an untapped source of housing supply and I'm sure that you'll agree with me on that.

Now, there continue to be some promising local schemes, but surely what we need now is a plan to scale up production to ensure higher levels of social housing, which may require a stronger role for the Welsh Government. Can you outline whether the Welsh Government has such a plan, in addition to what you've said already, and indicate the numbers that you could expect from that? But, of course, numbers are important, but the quality of the housing is also very important, and I know that's something that we've already been hearing. You've agreed that some of the estates constructed in recent years may well become ghettos of the future, and you'll be aware of our own views on the planning system—it's come up a lot in recent exchanges. Could you give us an assurance that funding is only being allocated to projects where there's a likelihood that the quality and environmental standards are going to be of the highest possible level and that there isn't going to be any compromise on that?

And finally, Minister, it's linked with that point: I think it's important that, in the rush to rightly increase social housing, we also adopt more innovative methods of construction—again in addition to what's been said—and we don't want to make the same mistakes of the past. How are you ensuring that these new estates are within the context of mixed communities of all tenures and are well supported by public services?