Jayne Bryant MS, Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
The Welsh Government’s Draft Budget 2025-26 published on 10 December announced that all government departments will receive increases in revenue and capital funding, marking a significant contrast from previous budgetary constraints and paving the way for us to once again invest in the fabric of Wales.
My decisions around budget prioritisation for Housing and Regeneration have predominantly focused on the First Minister’s priority of opportunity for all families - ending homelessness, delivering more homes and supporting our towns and cities to thrive. My budget allocations seek to balance the need for preventative measures with investment in more homes and aim to maximise the impact of additional funding.
I am delighted to be increasing the Housing Support Grant by £21m taking it to over £204m. This additional funding, in addition to the £13m additional invested this year will support the important work of the sector in preventing homelessness and supporting people to sustain their housing and thrive in it.
Budgets will also support delivery of more homes across tenures. I have allocated an additional £81m for more homes through both Social Housing Grant and Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme, taking our total budget for 2025-26 to £411m. This investment will help deliver much needed affordable homes, with a further £26.25m secured to provide Registered Social Landlords with low-cost development loans. The early announcement of a continuation of the TACP programme will support our partners in continuing the pipeline of quality projects in this space.
I have decided to provide an increase of £1.255m revenue and £5.5m capital in our investment in Independent Living. Funding will support delivery of thousands of additional home adaptations across Wales the demand for which has increased considerably over recent years and will help ease pressure on other public services.
We also continue to invest in the improvement and decarbonisation of our existing social housing stock. Whilst the prime focus of this investment remains on social homes, we are investing in Private Rented homes through Leasing Scheme Wales, and I am investing £3m of financial transaction capital (FTC) to extend our Green Homes scheme through the Development Bank for Wales next year.
We will also invest to support people to own their own homes through Help to Buy Wales and Homebuy. I have allocated an additional £57m of FTCs to extend the Help to Buy Wales scheme for a further 18 months.
I have also protected budgets to ensure we continue to invest for the long term in the regeneration of our towns and cities, in bringing empty homes and buildings back into productive use and in building our pipeline of land of land to secure long term housing delivery.
Finally, addressing fire related Building Safety remains a key priority. With 433 buildings in our building safety remediation programme, we have an increasingly detailed understanding of the work to be undertaken and the profile of spend needed over the coming years and budgets will be tailored accordingly.
This budget is a positive step forward and recognises the importance of increasing the supply of affordable homes alongside providing the right support and prevention services, whilst also giving our towns and cities the best opportunity to thrive.
This statement is being issued during recess to keep Members informed. Should Members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.