Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 4 October 2022.
Swansea Council was never going to build 1,600 houses of its own. That would be more than they've built in the last 30 years. What they were relying upon is the private sector to build, and the private sector only builds when it can make a profit. The problem we have at the moment is, with interest rates going up, the private sector cannot make profits on these houses, therefore they've scaled back the number of houses they're building. Does the First Minister agree that what we need is lower interest rates, and that we need an economic position on which we can have people able to afford to buy houses? Andrew Davies was right: do away with planning and let people build, and you will have houses built. The Vale of Glamorgan will be full of houses from Cowbridge down. The Vale of Clwyd will be full of houses in the more affluent areas. Gower will be full of houses. I don't think anybody on our benches would want to see that.