News
Welsh Government unveils mortgage support scheme
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT has announced a new funding package for Welsh homeowners having difficulty paying their mortgage.
Julie James, Wales’s Minister for Housing, unveiled the Help to Stay Wales Mortgage Support Scheme on Tuesday, November 7.
TARGETED SUPPORT
With rising interest rates, energy costs and cost-of-living expenses, many homeowners cannot meet mortgage repayments.
As part of the Co-operation Agreement, the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru considered introducing Local Authority Mortgages. However, that idea is a non-starter.
Instead, the Help to Stay Wales Scheme formed part of discussions about the mortgage market and how the Welsh Government can provide targeted support.
PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE
With increased investment, the Welsh Government aims to prevent many individuals and families from entering possession proceedings and becoming homeless, adding to the already stressed waiting lists and high temporary accommodation costs for Local Authorities.
During 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Welsh Government provided more than £3.3 billion of support to help people struggling with the cost of living through targeted programmes which put money back into people’s pockets.
As part of the budget agreement with Plaid Cymru for 2023-24, £40m repayable capital funding has been made available over this year and next year to bring forward schemes to provide flexible financial support.
WORKING ALONGSIDE EXISTING SCHEMES
Help to Stay Wales will work alongside support offered by mortgage providers through the UK Mortgage Charter for customers struggling to afford their mortgage payments.
The Scheme will provide an option for homeowners who are at serious risk of losing their home by offering a partial repayment of an existing mortgage balance via a low-cost equity loan, secured by a second charge (behind first charge lender), reducing revised mortgage repayments to a level the applicant can afford.
The Development Bank of Wales will operate the Scheme and be interest-free for the first five years.
The purpose of the Scheme is to reduce the number of homeowners at risk of repossession and homelessness by offering them time to resolve their underlying financial issues.
UK FINANCE AND LENDERS SUPPORT SCHEME
Julie James MS said: “The current economic climate presents many challenges for homeowners as they face the significant rise in fuel costs, high inflation, escalating rent and house prices with incomes often not keeping pace.
“The aim of the Help to Stay Wales Scheme is to help homeowners to continue living in their precious homes.
“By widening our current mortgage rescue offer, we can help more people at an earlier stage before they face the awful threat of repossession.
“I would like to thank UK Finance and mortgage lenders already supporting the Scheme. I hope more lenders will provide their support over the coming weeks.
“We will continue to do all we can with our powers to protect vulnerable households through this cost-of-living crisis.”
Designated Member Siân Gwenllian said: “The detailed work undertaken through the Co-operation Agreement on the mortgage market has led to the creation of Help to Stay Wales to support people affected by soaring interest rates.
“By utilising the financial institutions and the powers we currently have in Wales, we have created a Made in Wales solution which will provide direct support to those facing the greatest difficulties.
“Despite having limited powers and resources in this area, our hope is that the direct support being provided in Wales will provide an additional safety net.”
AVOIDING THE STRESS OF REPOSSESSION
Chief Executive for Shelter Cymru, Ruth Power, said: “We’ve been campaigning for more support for homeowners struggling with their mortgage repayments.
“We welcome any initiatives that get upstream to prevent homelessness and widen the safety net for households facing a cost of housing and cost-of-living crisis.
“This Scheme will offer eligible households assistance from the early point of arrears accruing rather than waiting until they face the incredible stress of repossession.
“We must now ensure that as many households as possible have the option to use it to stay in their homes, learning from people at risk of homelessness how best such a scheme can help them.
“Anyone at immediate risk of losing their home can contact Shelter Cymru’s helpline on 08000 495 495 for independent advice.”
Mortgage Rescue, which has operated in Wales since 2008, is still available and remains a valuable last resort, but requires people to already be in possession proceedings to qualify for support.
Help to Stay Wales will extend this to include those facing possession proceedings and financial hardship.
CONSERVATIVES PROPOSE
AMBITIOUS ALTERNATIVE
Welsh Conservative Shadow Housing Minister Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: “It is not the role of the Welsh Government to hand out loans to pay off people’s mortgages.
“The UK Government has already secured a wide range of support directly from mortgage providers to support people.
“The Scheme raises several questions, including whether it is being targeted correctly and why social landlords are not being supported to invest in homes threatened with repossession.”
Speaking to The Herald, Janet Finch-Saunders explained: “A social landlord mortgage rescue scheme can work in two ways.
“The first is through a shared equity loan. If a homeowner qualifies, they will be given an equity loan from a housing association, enabling them to keep up with their mortgage payments. The loan is repayable to the housing association but is interest-free.
“The second option is mortgage to rent. If an individual cannot afford to continue owning a share of their property, the housing association could buy the property and rent it back to the individual.
“Whilst the second option would mean that the individual no longer owns their own home, they would still be able to live there, but by renting from a social landlord.
“Individuals would reach out to the relevant local authority/social landlord, so there would be no preying on struggling homeowners”.
Farming
Animal health and welfare workshops help family farm shape future business
AN eagerness to learn new skills and knowledge is helping mother and son Dianna and Iestyn Spary to continually improve their livestock farming enterprise and build a financially sustainable business fit for the future.
Technical expertise and good business sense are not qualities the Sparys lack since embarking on an impressive number of Farming Connect workshops, covering a range of animal health and welfare topics.
“It’s been an amazing opportunity, we have learned so much that we can apply within the day to day running of our farm and herd, and we can draw on that knowledge as we look at developing new enterprises and diversifications,’’ says Dianna.
She is the fifth generation of her family to farm at Goytre Farm at New Church West, Chepstow, Iestyn the sixth.
Together they farm 110 hectares, running a Hereford-cross beef suckler herd and also rearing beef cattle purchased as baby calves, including more recently British Blues, taking these through to slaughter.
Although they have been immersed in agriculture all their lives, they recognise that it is an industry that is constantly changing as new research and ideas are rolled out and applied.
This is where the Farming Connect workshops have been so incredibly valuable, says Dianna.
“You are never too old to learn, things are changing all the time. If we hadn’t got involved in attending the workshops, we would never have known about some of those new ways of doing things.’’
From learning how to maximise suckler cow productivity and protecting youngstock health to understanding diseases such as Johne’s and bovine TB, the animal health and welfare training workshops have been “enormously valuable’’, she adds.
The pair have tapped into Farming Connect accredited training courses covering areas such as calf management, health and housing, body condition scoring and safe use of veterinary medicines.
“You name it we have done it,’’ says Dianna.
They were announced the winners of the 2023 Farming Connect Animal Health and Welfare Award at the Lantra Cymru Awards in January.
The knowledge gained through Farming Connect workshops and training has helped inform changes in the business.
“We now monitor cattle weights more closely and have introduced different ways of feeding,’’ Dianna explains.
“We have also been revamping all the cattle sheds and have a couple of new ones that will be going up.
“We’ve also invested in calf jackets and if there are any drops in weights, we are more responsive with feed intakes, little things like that.’’
Iestyn has also benefited from a number of sheep-related topics offered through the animal health workshops.
Through the Farming Connect Advisory Service, they have received specialist veterinary advice on their Herd Health Plan with a focus on incoming stock and biosecurity. They have also had guidance on soil health through the soil clinic.
The Sparys largely use traditional farming methods at Goytre Farm where they have several hay meadows.
All feed is produced on-farm. “By doing everything in-house we know exactly what we are feeding and that’s important to us,’’ says Dianna.
That distinctiveness, which sets them apart from some of the more mainstream farming systems, has given them the confidence to consider establishing a diversification into meat box sales, what Dianna describes as a ‘farm to fork’ approach.
Working with a local butcher who has an abattoir licence, they hope to do everything on-site, from slaughter through to hanging the carcass for 28 days, and then selling cuts direct to the consumer.
“We have also spoken to a chef who is going to produce some recipe cards for us to include in the boxes along with a bit of history of where the meat has come from,’’ says Dianna.
Another future project could be converting stone barns in the farmyard to holiday accommodation.
To help focus their minds on their plans, the Sparys will get guidance at a Farming Connect diversification surgery; they have also signed up for a ‘planning a diversification’ training course and will attend a ‘Dos and Don’ts of Diversification’ event in the coming weeks.
For Iestyn, another form of diversification, into agricultural contracting, has provided a secondary income stream.
His customer base is largely farms with smaller acreages with crops that require harvesting or spraying.
Farming Connect has helped with this process too as Iestyn has gained his Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides (PA1) and Safe Application of Pesticides Using Vehicle mounted Boom Sprayer Equipment (PA2).
He also offers field maintenance and fencing and works on a neighbouring farm during the lambing season.
This is where Farming Connect has again helped; through the animal health workshops, he has covered modules advising on the prevention of lambing losses and lameness, improving lamb performance post-weaning and parasite controls.
Dianna says the opportunities available through Farming Connect have really helped to drive the family farming business forward.
“We have a good relationship with our local Farming Connect development officer Lisa Powell, she has been brilliant in giving us advice on which courses and workshops are right for us and signing us up for those,’’ she says.
All your achievements, training and knowledge transfer activities are saved within your personal, online Storfa Sgiliau account, the unique, online professional development tool, available for you to view and download at any time from your BOSS (Business Online Support Service) account.
Education
Lib Dem leader meets student union after scrapping of teacher training
Last week, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds visited Aberystwyth University to meet students following the announcement that the University will be scrapping their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program.
The announcement comes after the publication of an Estyn inspection report last year, which found that the institution had “been too slow” when it came to prioritising student support.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have now called for the University to produce and implement an action plan that will enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity, as well as for the Uni to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:
“Aberystwyth university has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.
However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.
The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the Uni’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.
The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.
We are now calling on the University to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible.
Commenting, a spokesperson for the Welsh Young Liberals said: “There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.
Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.
As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.
This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth university should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”
Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat PPC for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: “The reputation of Aberystwyth University as a well-respected centre of education is rightfully a source of pride for many residents here in Ceredigion.
This is why it is so dis-heartening to hear that the Uni have failed to take the recommendations in the 2023 Estyn report seriously, leading them into the embarrassing position of losing their accreditation which risks delivering a severe blow to the future of Welsh-medium education.
The lack of foresight from the Uni in this regard is deeply worrying and I hope that, for the sake of both the students and the wider community, they take all the steps needed to restart the course at the earliest opportunity.”
Crime
Manslaughter charge following death in Carmarthenshire
DYFED-POWYS POLICE have confirmed Jason Thomas, 39, from Llanelli, has been charged with manslaughter following an incident on Saturday, March 25.
Police were called to a property in Robinson St, Llanelli to concerns for the welfare of a man.
Liam Rhys Morgan-Whittle, 22, was taken to hospital where he sadly passed away.
Jason Thomas was quickly arrested and later released on conditional bail while the police investigation continued.
He will appear at Llanelli Magistrates Court on Thursday, May 30, it has been confirmed.
-
News5 days ago
Police and air ambulances at ‘serious incident’ at West Wales school
-
Business3 days ago
Largest Welsh port appoints communications and marketing director
-
Crime5 days ago
Pembrokeshire pensioner accused of 17 sexual offences against children
-
Crime4 days ago
All three school stabbing victims discharged from hospital, police confirm
-
Community6 days ago
County Hall to offer space for community banking
-
Sport7 days ago
Swifts eyes on double.
-
News1 day ago
‘Honest’ caravan site owner ran site ‘under the radar’ for 20 years
-
Community3 days ago
Suspected explosive device found on west Wales beach