Independent Review Of Affordable Housing Supply Published

Tai Pawb has welcomed the publication of the Independent Review of Affordable Housing Supply.

Commissioned by then Housing and Regeneration Minister, Rebecca Evans, in April last year, the panel – chaired by Lynn Pamment – presented its findings after collating evidence from a wide range of stakeholders across the Welsh housing sector over the past 12 months.

Speaking after its publication, Alicja Zalesinska, Director of Tai Pawb, said:

In our response to the review, we called particularly for a better reflection of people’s housing needs when planning and developing new housing. It’s encouraging, therefore, to see that the review has placed an importance on better capturing the range of needs in Local Housing Market Assessments (LHMAs), including those of disabled people and young and older people. Tai Pawb has worked extensively in this area we are pleased to have had this recognised in the review.

As part of our response, Tai Pawb also recommended that Lifetime Homes remains a core part of housing design standards. The review, however, has recommended that Lifetime Homes is replaced with mandatory minimum space and storage requirements. Alicja said:

We feel that adaptability is a significant premise in ensuring that homes are fit for purpose, but, unfortunately, the key recommendation only refers to space and storage,

Tai Pawb is conscious that this mustn’t lead to a lowering of adaptability standards – the panel, when questioned, were of the view that this shouldn’t be the case. Monitoring any forthcoming review of housing standards will be crucial to ensuring that adaptability hasn’t been negatively impacted and we are committed to contributing to future such reviews.

Tai Pawb’s response also included a call for the right to adequate housing to be recognised in Welsh law and we are continuing to work with Shelter Cymru, CIH Cymru and Swansea University in developing a research paper which will consider its potential impact on housing in Wales.

Tai Pawb’s original response to the Affordable Housing Review consultation.