Claims by the Deputy Housing Minister, Jocelyn Davies, that she is on track to achieve her target of 6,500 new affordable homes have been challenged by the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Housing, Peter Black.
He has said that the claim that over 3,500 new homes have been built since April 2007 is misleading: “The One Wales agreement is clear that the government would not just build 6,500 homes, but would increase the supply of affordable homes by this amount,” he said. “Only counting what has been built but ignoring what has been lost isn’t a measure of her success in reaching her targets.
“A total of 976 local authority owned properties and 104 social landlord owned properties have been sold between 2007/08 and 2008/09. In 2007/08 67 social housing units were demolished. Figures are not yet available for 2008/09.
“This means that 1,147 affordable housing units have to be deducted from the Ministers 3,252 figure, so that the supply of affordable housing has only increased by 2,105 units.
“The target is a distraction from measures that could be taken to help create affordable homes. Why is the Minister ignoring the 26,000 private sector empty homes in Wales? These empty homes are a neglected resource that could also be housing homeless families.”
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