Affordable Homes

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 2 March 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:11, 2 March 2021

Well, Llywydd, I am proud of the standards that we have here in Wales. It is absolutely essential that when new houses are built, they are houses that are fit for the future, that they are houses that will make their contribution to the net-zero carbon targets that we have agreed for 2050. And I know that there are some house builders who find it challenging to meet the standards that are required, but they are absolutely necessary. The fact that 8,000 of our 20,000 affordable homes were reached through the Help to Buy scheme demonstrates to me that there are house builders in Wales who are capable of delivering quality housing within the standards that we require here. We will go on having standards for house building in Wales that do not leave us with a huge legacy of retrofitting those houses to make them fit for the sort of carbon-neutral future that we need to have. I'm very pleased that we have standards that will stand up to examination by future generations, as our Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 requires of us.