Homelessness Prevention Services

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 13 December 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:31, 13 December 2022

Well, Llywydd, to be threatened with homelessness at any time of the year is enormously stressful, as anybody in this Chamber who does casework regularly will know. But to be faced with that over the Christmas period, when you're fearful that services may not be available, is even more challenging, I'm sure, for anybody. There are two aspects to this, Llywydd, of course. There is the demand on the one side, and demand in the system has risen inexorably over this calendar year. In January, 1,100 people presented themselves to local authorities as threatened with or actually being homeless. It rose to 1,200 in February, to 1,300 in March. It was 1,400 by August, 1,500 in September, and I believe that the next set of figures will see it rise to over 1,600. These are huge surges in demand that make it even more difficult for local authorities to discharge their responsibilities, and part of the answer to that has to be to increase the supply of affordable housing. We have a commitment of 20,000 low-carbon homes for social rent during this Senedd term. We are acting to invest £65 million in transitional accommodation, by including £30 million of that in the area of Wales represented by Luke Fletcher, as a £30 million investment in a leasing scheme for Wales, but, also—and it's an important point the Member makes—the investment we are making in assisting local authorities to bring empty homes back into use. And there are some very significant examples of that around Wales—an outstanding one in Pembrokeshire and the area represented by our colleague Paul Davies, where the local authority, with support from the Welsh Government, was able to bring a large number of Ministry of Defence properties back into use for the general population. And the work done in Valleys communities, led my colleague Lee Waters, is another example of how we can, alongside our local authorities, invest in making sure that houses that otherwise stand empty can be brought back into beneficial use.