Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
I am pleased with new data published today which shows the progress made by social landlords in achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) for all their stock. The figures show that 159,317 (72%) of households now live in good quality homes, a rise of 9,562 compared to this time last year and an increase of 4%. In addition, all social landlords are currently on track to meet our 2020 achievement date.
This is possible because the Welsh Government continues to provide £108m of capital investment every year, which leverages almost five times that amount for social landlords across Wales, helping to support investment in housing for some of our least advantaged people. As a result, 72% of the stock now has sound roofs, secure doors and windows, energy efficient boilers, smoke alarms and up to date kitchens and bathrooms and 96% have central heating.
The Welsh Government’s priorities are health, jobs and educational attainment. This programme underpins all of those priorities and uses a community benefits approach to creating jobs and providing training and supply chain opportunities in some of our poorest communities. To date, the Welsh Government’s Community Benefits Measurement Tool has tracked contracts worth £134 million, demonstrating that 85% of spend has been re-invested in Wales. This has helped more than 260 people into employment or training and provided the equivalent of 9,000 weeks of training.
The data published today is very good news for our people, our communities and our businesses.