Housing demolitions: April 2017 to March 2018

Main points

• During 2017-18, a total of 137 dwellings were demolished across Wales which is 6% more than the number demolished in 2016-17.
• During 2017-18,  there were no demolitions in 7 of the 22 local authorities and in the remaining 15 authorities numbers ranged from 26 in Neath Port Talbot to just 1 in Ceredigion and 2 in both Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil.
• At a local authority level, the number of dwellings demolished annually can vary widely from year to year, and will be dependent on the level of development and clearance work within each authority over the period. For example, in Wrexham during 2017-18 there were 25 demolitions, mainly of local authority stock, compared with just 3 the previous year.
• During 2017-18, there were just 10 dwellings (7%) demolished within renewal areas(a). All of these were in Flintshire.
• No demolitions were reported in clearance areas(b) in 2017-18.

(a) Area based housing renewal schemes enable local authorities to focus activity and investment on areas that combine a need for assistance with the potential for regeneration.
(b) Clearance areas are those where the houses are deemed unfit for human habitation or are dangerous or harmful to the health of the inhabitants. The local authority declares a clearance area when it is satisfied that the most suitable method of dealing with these conditions is the demolition of all the buildings in that area.

This information is used by the Welsh Government to calculate dwelling stock estimates for Wales.