£77m investment to deliver 1500 affordable homes to help county ‘housing crisis’

Councillors in Gwynedd are expected to approve a £77m investment to deliver  1,500 affordable homes in a county said to be suffering from a “housing crisis.”

The report, having received the green light from finance chiefs, outlines that the significant investment should form the backbone of a new Housing Action Plan and will be presented to the cabinet next Tuesday (December 15).

Covering the period up to 2027, it will be used to fund more than 30 projects with the aim of securing an additional 500 affordable homes, including the construction of 100 new homes to be sold or let to locals.

Also, 250 loans would also be offered to first-time buyers while delivering more than 600 new social homes including buying in 72 former council houses to rent and extending a grant scheme to bring another 250 empty houses back into use.
It would also see investment into environmentally-friendly homes and developing 150 living units for homeless people and 130 new units for some of the county’s most vulnerable.

With significant concerns over the lack of affordable housing in the county, the report states that the authority is currently receiving between 80 and 90 homelessness submissions each month – a figure still rising in light of the economic impacts of the Coronavirus – with approximately 160 people placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Its also warned that there’s a lack of one and two bedroom homes in the county and with over 2,000 people having registered for social housing, particularly high demand is being reported in Bangor, Caernarfon, Dolgellau, Llŷn, Porthmadog and Tywyn, with the average waiting time before being offered social housing being over 400 days.

But never far from the headlines in north west Wales over recent months has been concerns over spiralling house prices, with a Gwynedd Council study finding that 59% of Gwynedd residents have been priced out of the local housing market – with the gap ever widening between average incomes and the amount needed to borrow enough to buy a home in Gwynedd.
To fund the plan, its proposed that £22.9m from the second home council tax premium is earmarked for the scheme, as well as grants and £15.4m worth of loans.

The premium – in place since 2018 – sees a 50% levy on the annual demands for owners of of holiday or second homes in the county.

But despite fears that many owners of such properties are exploiting a “legal loophole” allowing them to transfer to paying business rates – and often nothing at all to the local authority – separate proposals to increase this figure to as much as 100% will also be debated by cabinet members.
Cllr Craig ab Iago, who holds the housing portfolio, acknowledges that the scheme is an ambitious one but wanted to see “real change.”

“We know that our young people face a greater challenge than ever to find a suitable home locally, and this is an unfair and unjust situation,” he said

“Put simply, it is a crisis and I’m determined to see us delivering a real change.
“I am therefore extremely proud of this plan, which not only shows Gwynedd Council’s vision for the future, but more importantly, that we have definite plans to implement that vision.
“With the help of the Council Tax Premium income that is levied on second home owners, we will start building our own houses and selling them on a shared ownership model to local residents.
“We will offer financial assistance to local first-time buyers and aim to buy properties from the housing market to let to Gwynedd residents in accordance with the new local allocation policy we have introduced.

“We have recently seen building work begin on a modern environmentally-friending housing scheme in Caernarfon which marks the first home building project by the council in over a quarter of a century.
“This is the kind of exciting scheme that can make a real difference in the local housing market, and I’m proud that we can offer concrete solutions like this here in Gwynedd.
“The Housing Action Plan also includes over 30 other projects that will seek to tackle the challenges across the sector including providing more accommodation for homeless people, building more social housing for residents and bringing empty houses back into use.

“We have been ambitious, and we are looking forward to starting the work in early 2021.”
Some of the proposed projects at a glance:

• Speeding up the social housing construction programme by using council funds rather than depending on the Social Housing Grant alone, allowing 500 new homes to be built and prioritising one and two bedroom properties. (£23m)
  Buying 108 on-sale former ‘council houses’ to increase the amount of social housing available for rent. (£15.4m)
• Delivering an extra-care housing scheme in Pwllheli with two others proposed in the mid and south of the county, providing up to 72 living units. (£13m)
• Integrated health and care hub in Penygroes including 17 houses for older people and those with specific requirements as well as a new care facility at Plas Gwilym offering an extra 11 additional bedrooms. (£20m)
  38 ‘supported housing’ developments for those who face homelessness and require urgent temporary accommodation. (£4m)
• Remodelling and upgrading the NatWest and GISDA building in Caernarfon to provide four flats for homeless young people, one flat to train young people to be able to live independently, an extension to the café to create employment for the homeless and a permanent suitable home for GISDA. (£970,000)
• Five self-contained units for individuals with intensive social needs (£500,000)
• A support package for landlords to encourage them to offer tenancies to local people who need housing rather than shorter term lets. (£100,000)
• Specialist mental health support to support tenants to remain in their homes (£240,000)
• Working with Clwyd Alyn Housing Association to ensure that the Polish Care Home in Penrhos, near Pwllheli, receives investment to redevelop the existing living units to high standard homes to local people. (No figure stated)
• Building 100 homes to increase the housing stock in those communities where demand exists. (£3.8m)
• Taking advantage of Welsh Government’s scheme to prepare sites for housing developments through the ‘self-build’ model, with a trial scheme for six homes in Llanrug. (£30,000)
• Grants to help 250 first time buyers to renovate empty houses to an acceptable living standard. (£4m)
• Extending the exemption period for paying council tax on empty houses (main or sole house), giving first time buyers an additional year to complete essential restoration work before the house may be occupied. (£200,000)
• Extending the Homebuy pilot scheme which lends up to 20% of the house value up to £30,000 towards a mortgage deposit for first time buyers. (£3m)
• Finding and purchasing land for building in the future (£1.2m) A service to help sellers identify a local person in need of a house and offer a selling service on their behalf, if they so wish.
• Buying and developing 15 homes as supported housing for adults with profound needs. (£400,000)
• 17 new modern units for adults with learning disabilities to replace the current provision at Caernarfon’s Frondeg home, described as “unsuitable and coming to the end of its lifespan.” (£200,000)

By Gareth Williams – Local Democracy Reporter