Manifestos: Part 3

We now have the Green Party manifesto and the Plaid one.  Being a housing nerd, I’m focusing solely on how they deal with housing issues.  And, the interesting thing about these two is their commonalities.

Plaid Cymru

Given where the polls are, this is probably one of the more important documents for the future of housing policy.  They have committed to legislate for a right to adequate housing in Wales (as opposed to consider it in the first 100 days) – see my comments on this in relation to Plaid’s first 100 days manifesto.  They commit that

“Housing policy will focus on progressively realising this right, addressing homelessness, ensuring housing costs better reflect local incomes, supporting community ownership, promoting the Welsh language and culture, and helping young people remain in their communities.”

They commit to 20,000 new social homes by 2030; and develop Unnos, as an enabler of social housing.  In relation to the PRS, like England (and the Greens), they will end no-fault evictions, restrict rental bidding, limit rent in advance, and give tenants the right to keep a pet (subject to reasonable refusal by the landlord).  Perhaps more importantly, they will limit annual rent increases to the CPI or wage growth whichever is the lower (this is rent control by another name).  They don’t commit to the WHQS in the PRS but want to improve the overall quality of properties, and strengthen enforcement.

Interestingly (to me, given our research), they have been persuaded to remove refuges from Renting Homes.

They also commit to get rid of what they call “fleeceholds” (so perhaps not all leaseholds then?), review the effectiveness of the second homes/holiday lets Article 4 measures, and have a trauma-informed housing first approach to homelessness.

Green Party

This is a pretty important document as it may well be that they will hold the balance in the next Senedd.  On housing, their position is summarised:

“We will freeze rents. Build 60,000 social homes over 10 years. End no-fault evictions. Make housing secure, affordable, and fit to live in — get rid of a system that exploits people.”

They want to incorporate quite a lot of the provisions of the Renter’s Rights Act in England – eg ban the six month no fault eviction process, stop rental bidding (ie not to rent the property above the listed price), allow tenants to bring pets (subject to reasonable refusal), create a Welsh housing ombud.  In addition, they would extend the WHQS to the PRS.  I’m not sure that any of that is objectionable – left-leaning parties will generally endorse those proposals.  And, continuing the theme, want to get rid of leasehold, like in England.  They are more ambitious on rents, mirroring Scotland in part:

“We will introduce a one-year rent freeze, including between tenancies, to provide immediate relief. This will be followed by rent controls, allowing Welsh Ministers to approve local authority Rent Pressure Zones where rent caps apply to keep housing affordable. Rent increases will only be permitted where landlords deliver genuine improvements to homes, particularly upgrades that improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.”

On social housing, the only difference (I think) between the Greens and most other parties lies in the target of “affordable” homes – the Greens peg it at 60,000 in a 10 year programme (6k pa).  They will also support community-led housing.

Like Plaid, they are committed to “embedding” the right to adequate housing in Welsh law, ” requiring future governments to develop long-term strategies to prevent homelessness and ensure secure housing” .

These manifestos have considerable intersection which would suggest that, at least on housing, they could work together well, if necessary.  If that does happen, or if either of them are able to run housing policy separately, one can foresee a busy period for housing policy emerging.  They are following England in some respects, but the key issues are likely to be around housing standards and rents in the PRS.

Next week, I want to draw attention to the manifestos of non-political parties around housing.  These are an increasing feature of the policy landscape and enable specialist organisations to make their cases at this sensitive political moment; those cases are commonly more informed and thoughtful when the most impressive people in the sector focus their minds on what they are looking for.  I’ve been sent a link to the CIH Cymru housing futures manifesto (h/t Warren Palmer :)), but it would be helpful if you could share any others for consideration.