Report says 229 new affordable homes needed in Conwy every year

The council’s economy and place overview and scrutiny committee met virtually to discuss an assessment of Conwy’s affordable housing needs.

Councillors rubber-stamped the report, but the committee heard how several issues contributed to the lack of affordable properties. These included a backlog of empty homes not being on the market, Conwy residents being out priced by buyers from outside the county and social housing associations not building quickly enough.

High rents in the private sector are also causing problems, due to many people being on lower incomes.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Chris Hughes explained the situation in the county was desperate, as people struggled with rents too high to pay.

“There is a desperate need, and people out there are struggling,” he said.

“I talk to people regularly in my own ward who are wondering how they are going to pay their rents. A lot of people live in houses where they know that, as soon as they move into those properties, it is inevitable that they will develop a debt, that they won’t be able to pay their rent, and that their landlord will look to evict them. Many have been fortunate because of COVID regulations that they weren’t evicted, but it’s a never-ending circle for some people who are in dire straits.”

It was also explained that spending more than 30% of household income on housing costs was unsustainable, and market analysis revealed that 46.7% of first-time buyers in Conwy are priced out of the market, both to rent and buy.

Councillors also learned that 31.5% of new households could only afford social housing rents – and only 15.2% could afford to buy low-cost homes.

All local authorities have a statutory duty to carefully consider the housing accommodation needs in their area. The report discussed – the Local Housing Market Assessment (LHMA) – presented a draft assessment of the local housing market and will help shape future local development plans and housing strategies in Conwy of what can be built and where.

The current LHMA looks at the price of housing, the cost and affordability. An earlier assessment was approved by cabinet in 2018. But this latest interim draft assessment noted that Conwy needs to build 229 affordable homes over the next five years.

Conwy has several areas marked for construction in its Local Development Plan, but many of these are developing slowly, due to a number of issues.

Now a special project team, headed by council officers, will try to kick-start construction by tackling the ‘complexities’ that slow down the building process.

Conwy’s strategic director, Jane Richardson, explained a special ‘project team’ of council officers would now look to accelerate the rate of housing construction in the new year.

“We’ve set up a project team and appointed a project manager, and in January, we will be bringing to this committee a proposal to establish a new programme board to accelerate affordable housing so that we can crack straight on to trying to unblock the sites that we’ve got,” she said.

“It can take years to get these sites brought forward. So we are putting resource around it and bringing people together, members and officers, to identify solutions to these sites that are stuck.”

Conwy’s leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey added: “I’m really pleased with what Jane (Richardson) has outlined. It’s something I’ve wanted to see since I’ve been a member and have it at the forefront of what we are doing.

“We know the issues. We are stuck for land in Conwy. The land we do have is incredibly expensive. Building houses to the standard required is incredibly expensive. We have relatively cheap properties compared to other areas of the UK. So the problems are there. It is money, land, flooding, climate and a huge demand and the fact that it has been ignored since 2009. We are reaping what we’ve sowed, I guess.”

Councillors unanimously backed the report, apart from Cllr Bob Squire who abstained. The draft assessment will go out to public consultation..