Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:14 pm on 21 March 2023.
Diolch. First Minister, increasing house prices have left young people feeling they've been effectively priced out of the market, with many worried that they will never be able to get their feet on the housing ladder. It's clear to everyone that the target of building 12,000 homes a year here in Wales has been missed repeatedly for years. Your Government only delivered 5,273 houses in 2021-22, 90,000 are languishing on social housing waiting lists, and less than 1,000 homes were completed in October to December of last year, the second lowest level for the period since targets began in 1974. Two thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine dependent children aged 16 or under are in temporary accommodation. We're talking bed and breakfast, we're talking hotel rooms, and this number is rising—it has trebled compared to a year ago. This is a failing at the highest level of this Welsh Labour Government. So, what urgent action are you as the First Minister and, indeed, your Welsh Labour Government, taking to address these failures? And let's hope that you can respond in a professional manner—[Laughter.]—that tells people in Wales that the dream of local home ownership is achievable under your Welsh Labour Government.