WALES’ new housing minister has said everyone in Wales should have a “safe, warm home” – but admitted “this most basic of needs is out of reach for thousands of people”.

Answering questions from colleagues in the Senedd on Tuesday June 9, Siân Gwenllian set out her priorities – including protecting renters, strengthening local government, and creating a new national development body.

The Gwynedd Maldwyn MS committed to a new “package of measures” to protect private renters in Wales and “ensure fair rents are set so the price of renting a home is as affordable as possible”.

Ms Gwenllian vowed to ensure local authorities are in the “strongest position possible” to achieve this, and outlined plans to establish Unnos – a new national development body tasked with increasing Wales’ social housing supply.

“I am determined to turn ambition into action, delivering the homes people need along with the resilient public services that communities rely on”, she said.

“Together, we will build a fairer Wales where everyone has security and opportunity, a roof above their heads, and vibrant communities to live in.”

However, Ms Gwenllian’s shadow cabinet counterpart, Reform’s Francesca O’Brien, challenged plans for “another quango” – and hit out at the Labour government’s housebuilding record.

She said: “The Federation of Master Builders have been sounding the alarm in Wales for years. The Government didn’t listen.”

“If the planning system is so broken that you need a brand-new arm’s-length body just to navigate it, then you should fix that broken system first, surely?

“Until we see the detail on this proposed arm’s-length body, I’ll reserve judgment.

“However, let me be clear: this must not become another layer of bureaucracy.”

Ms Gwenllian agreed with Ms O’Brien’s description of a “housing crsis” and said: “The crisis, for me, is clearly highlighted in the numbers of people who are in temporary accommodation.

“As we speak today, there are children on the way home from school to spend evenings in B&B accommodation, in a small room where there are no facilities for cooking, no room to do their homework. That is the reality of the crisis that we are facing.”

Concerns about the proposed Unnos were also raised by Labour’s Jayne Bryant and Peter Fox from the Welsh Conservatives.

Ms Bryant, who represents Casnewydd Islwyn, said: “It would be good to know in what way the establishment of quangos cuts bureaucracy and boosts our economy.”

Responding, Ms Gwenllian reiterated her belief that an arm’s-length body like Unnos was needed to increase the speed of delivery in the housing sector.

Drawing attention to the work done by the previous Labour administration, Ms Bryant, who is Labour’s housing spokesperson, quizzed the cabinet minister on her commitments.

Ms Bryant said: “The funding formula is based on a complex mix of indicators, and work was ongoing to update some of those indicators. It would be really good to understand whether that work will continue at pace, or whether it will be stopped while there is a review of the funding formula.”

Ms Gwenllian confirmed that the Plaid administration will be looking at how the funding formula could be reformed, and will be continuing with the work started by Welsh Labour.

Conservative MS Mr Fox pressed Ms Gwenllian on how the government planned to achieve its target of 20,000 social homes by 2030 – noting that the previous Labour administration failed to meet their similar target.

He said: “As it stands, one in every 14 households are waiting for a social home, which means that at the current rate, it would take 35 years to meet that demand.

“Your pledge for a home for all is very much welcome, but the previous Welsh Government failed on its 2021 manifesto commitment… to deliver those 20,000 new low-carbon social homes for rent by the end of the Senedd.

“You’ve said today that you will create 20,000 new social homes by 2030. What makes you so sure that you can meet this target when the previous government failed?”

In response Ms Gwenllian acknowledged the “better position” the Plaid administration starts with thanks to the work of the previous Labour government in delivering social homes.

She said: “There are homes that are currently in the pipeline, and there are plans for developing more of them. But we do have to find funding methods that are innovative, and there are models out there that we will be looking at.

“Unnos will provide that vehicle for us to be looking seriously at the long-term barriers and long-term planning issues, and the need for the funding to be allocated on a long-term basis to deliver on that.”

The minister also faced questions on how she will address youth homelessness.

Questioning Ms Gwenllian, Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Jane Dodds highlighted figures from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, which found housing and homelessness were among children’s top priorities.

Ms Dodds said: “We heard from children about insecure and unsuitable accommodation, lack of adapted or accessible housing for disabled children, poor housing conditions, including damp, mould and overcrowding.

“I also wanted to touch base on those children in our care. We know that a quarter of children leaving our care find themselves homeless.”

She asked the what work was being done to support children, including children in care, and listen to their views and experiences.

In response, Ms Gwenllian said she is creating an action plan to align with the legislation to tackle homelessness, including child homelessness.

She also noted that importance of working with organisations designed to support families before they become homeless, helping them out of homelessness, and ensuring they do not face those struggles again.

She said: “Children are at the heart of that work. I don’t think anyone in this room would want us not to be doing our level best to ensure that no children live in totally unacceptable circumstances.”

WALES’ new housing minister has said everyone in Wales should have a “safe, warm home” – but admitted “this most basic of needs is out of reach for thousands of people”.

Answering questions from colleagues in the Senedd on Tuesday June 9, Siân Gwenllian set out her priorities – including protecting renters, strengthening local government, and creating a new national development body.

The Gwynedd Maldwyn MS committed to a new “package of measures” to protect private renters in Wales and “ensure fair rents are set so the price of renting a home is as affordable as possible”.

Ms Gwenllian vowed to ensure local authorities are in the “strongest position possible” to achieve this, and outlined plans to establish Unnos – a new national development body tasked with increasing Wales’ social housing supply.

“I am determined to turn ambition into action, delivering the homes people need along with the resilient public services that communities rely on”, she said.

“Together, we will build a fairer Wales where everyone has security and opportunity, a roof above their heads, and vibrant communities to live in.”

However, Ms Gwenllian’s shadow cabinet counterpart, Reform’s Francesca O’Brien, challenged plans for “another quango” – and hit out at the Labour government’s housebuilding record.

She said: “The Federation of Master Builders have been sounding the alarm in Wales for years. The Government didn’t listen.”

“If the planning system is so broken that you need a brand-new arm’s-length body just to navigate it, then you should fix that broken system first, surely?

“Until we see the detail on this proposed arm’s-length body, I’ll reserve judgment.

“However, let me be clear: this must not become another layer of bureaucracy.”

Ms Gwenllian agreed with Ms O’Brien’s description of a “housing crsis” and said: “The crisis, for me, is clearly highlighted in the numbers of people who are in temporary accommodation.

“As we speak today, there are children on the way home from school to spend evenings in B&B accommodation, in a small room where there are no facilities for cooking, no room to do their homework. That is the reality of the crisis that we are facing.”

Concerns about the proposed Unnos were also raised by Labour’s Jayne Bryant and Peter Fox from the Welsh Conservatives.

Ms Bryant, who represents Casnewydd Islwyn, said: “It would be good to know in what way the establishment of quangos cuts bureaucracy and boosts our economy.”

Responding, Ms Gwenllian reiterated her belief that an arm’s-length body like Unnos was needed to increase the speed of delivery in the housing sector.

Drawing attention to the work done by the previous Labour administration, Ms Bryant, who is Labour’s housing spokesperson, quizzed the cabinet minister on her commitments.

Ms Bryant said: “The funding formula is based on a complex mix of indicators, and work was ongoing to update some of those indicators. It would be really good to understand whether that work will continue at pace, or whether it will be stopped while there is a review of the funding formula.”

Ms Gwenllian confirmed that the Plaid administration will be looking at how the funding formula could be reformed, and will be continuing with the work started by Welsh Labour.

Conservative MS Mr Fox pressed Ms Gwenllian on how the government planned to achieve its target of 20,000 social homes by 2030 – noting that the previous Labour administration failed to meet their similar target.

He said: “As it stands, one in every 14 households are waiting for a social home, which means that at the current rate, it would take 35 years to meet that demand.

“Your pledge for a home for all is very much welcome, but the previous Welsh Government failed on its 2021 manifesto commitment… to deliver those 20,000 new low-carbon social homes for rent by the end of the Senedd.

“You’ve said today that you will create 20,000 new social homes by 2030. What makes you so sure that you can meet this target when the previous government failed?”

In response Ms Gwenllian acknowledged the “better position” the Plaid administration starts with thanks to the work of the previous Labour government in delivering social homes.

She said: “There are homes that are currently in the pipeline, and there are plans for developing more of them. But we do have to find funding methods that are innovative, and there are models out there that we will be looking at.

“Unnos will provide that vehicle for us to be looking seriously at the long-term barriers and long-term planning issues, and the need for the funding to be allocated on a long-term basis to deliver on that.”

The minister also faced questions on how she will address youth homelessness.

Questioning Ms Gwenllian, Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Jane Dodds highlighted figures from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, which found housing and homelessness were among children’s top priorities.

Ms Dodds said: “We heard from children about insecure and unsuitable accommodation, lack of adapted or accessible housing for disabled children, poor housing conditions, including damp, mould and overcrowding.

“I also wanted to touch base on those children in our care. We know that a quarter of children leaving our care find themselves homeless.”

She asked the what work was being done to support children, including children in care, and listen to their views and experiences.

In response, Ms Gwenllian said she is creating an action plan to align with the legislation to tackle homelessness, including child homelessness.

She also noted that importance of working with organisations designed to support families before they become homeless, helping them out of homelessness, and ensuring they do not face those struggles again.

She said: “Children are at the heart of that work. I don’t think anyone in this room would want us not to be doing our level best to ensure that no children live in totally unacceptable circumstances.”

A CALL to allow a south Pembrokeshire caravan site to move to having caravans all-year-round, which led to fears of a precedent that other parks would be able to operate without seasonal restrictions, has been refused.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Amroth Castle Holidays Ltd, through agent Laister Planning Limited, sought a Certificate of Lawfulness for the use of land for the siting of static caravans for all year occupancy (including as a sole or main place of residence) at Amroth Castle Holiday Park, Amroth.

Local community council Amroth had objected to the call, saying a 12-month use license “would open the park to residential occupation rather than tourism and this was to be resisted”.

It also raised concerns including the application opening “an opportunity to change the caravans to chalets/lodges which are larger in size and will take up more room, potentially extending the area of the park and increasing density”.

It added: “No other caravan/lodge or chalet holiday parks in the Amroth community area of the National Park are allowed to offer 12 months residency on site and so approving this application would set up a precedent for other holiday parks to follow and operate without restriction.”

A supporting statement cited previous permissions at the site in 1967, 1970 and 1985; saying a condition in the latter approval which said the authority “does not authorise” the occupancy of caravans from January 10-Februrary 28 “does not impose a requirement or limitation on the occupancy but instead simply clarifies what the permission authorises”.

“Therefore, going beyond this occupancy would not be a breach of condition and any attempt to enforce it as a prohibition would struggle to identify a breach of planning control. Therefore, it is the applicant’s position that the seven week out-of-season period is not enforced by a planning condition and would be possible to extend such occupancy, provided that it does not amount to a material change use.”

An officer report recommending the certificate be refused, said: “The use of the land as a caravan site was established in the previous planning consents, as mentioned above.

“It was further established through these permissions that the caravans would be limited in number and locations within the site and would be occupied only as temporary accommodation, and not for any period between January 10 and February 28 in any year.”

Dealing with the point raised in the supporting statement, the report said: “Seasonal occupancy conditions are a long-established tool used by planning authorities to distinguish between holiday use and permanent residential occupation. The underlying principle is that a mandatory period of non-occupation breaks the continuity required for a property to be considered a permanent residence. This approach has historically been favoured by many local authorities because it is perceived as readily enforceable through simple site inspections during the specified closed period.”

It said all-year-round caravans at the site “would go above and beyond existing authorisations as established by the 1965, 1967, 1970 and 1985 planning consents,” adding it would “result in a definable character change to the site of a magnitude that would be sufficient to amount to a material change of use requiring planning permission”.

This refusal means that any proposal for year-round caravan occupancy at the site would need a formal planning application.