Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 21 March 2023.
Well, I thank the Member, of course, for her supplementary question. I think she'll find, actually, that, in the latest statistics, house completions in Wales in the last quarter were above pre-pandemic levels—[Interruption.] Well, actually, they were. No, they were. The Member asked me for a professional reply, and let me assure her that I will have done my homework; I have the figures in front of me, that, in the last quarter, completions of house building in Wales were above the quarter immediately before the pandemic. Housing starts are down in the last quarter; they are down in 10 of the 12 UK nations and regions, and they are down, says the house builders organisation, because of the impact of the disastrous September mini-budget, which has increased mortgage costs, increased interest costs and led, across the whole of the United Kingdom, to a reduction in house building starts.
The Member asks what we will do in Wales. Well, let me give her just one example. In England, Help to Buy has now been abolished. That form of help no longer is on offer; it hasn't been since October of last year. Here in Wales, Help to Buy—Wales has been extended for a further two years. It was raised by house builders very positively in the discussions with the Minister on 13 March. Since Help to Buy—Wales began in Wales, nearly 14,000 people have been able to move into homes that otherwise would not have been built. I'm very glad that that scheme is still available to purchasers in Wales, because it means that house builders are able to go on providing those homes. I'm sure that there are many people in England who wish it was still available there as well.