Researh by the Welsh Liberal Democrats Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Roger Williams MP, has found that over 1,000 young people in Wales are living in temporary accommodation and a further 4,000 are living in housing considered “overcrowded”.
He has called for more homes to be brought back into use, and put forward policies to use innovative funding schemes to encourage housing associations to use long-term empty properties.
He has also called for VAT on rebuild on repairs to be reduced to 5% to encourage developers to refurbish existing empty homes.
Mr Williams said: “Local authorities are not getting the assistance they need to ensure that children and families are not left in temporary accommodation.
“This kind of uncertainty can be very damaging for children and families, and local authorities must be assisted to ensure that young people are not left in this type of environment.
“There is a real problem with the lack of social housing – something which Westminster governments have allowed to develop over decades, but it is a particular scandal that so many children do not have a place they can call home.
“The Government should be doing everything they can to entice builders and developers to bring empty homes back into use.”
The Daily Post has the story here.
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