Rural Wales 'perfect storm' will lead to rising homelessness

http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2013/jan/24/rural-wales-perfect-storm-housing-homelessness

Version 0 of 1.

Homelessness is a growing problem across the UK, yet there are particular complexities in rural areas which exacerbate the problem – including a few uncomfortable truths within our communities.

The acute shortage of available land for new buildings, the number of homes sitting empty in Wales and higher development costs in rural areas – together with poor statistical analysis of rural housing needs – were well documented by a Joseph Rowntree report on Welsh housing in 2008.

As chair of the Wales Rural Housing Network, as well in my day job as chief executive of Tai Ceredigion (a large-scale voluntary transfer housing association), this is my strategic bible. The report included some uncomfortable reading for the Welsh government on the eve of the banking and financial crisis.

Four years later, have we made any progress? Some things have certainly changed for the better, such as the introduction of a Welsh network of rural housing enablers – experts who work with communities to help encourage development of affordable housing. We also now have a commitment that publicly-owned land will be registered and released for new affordable housing.

However, rising level of homelessness in Wales combined with a planned 40% cut to government funding for social housing will only be compounded by the impact of welfare reform, in particular the bedroom tax. We're now facing a tsunami of housing problems, affecting more than 300,000 people across Wales.

Despite government efforts, much in rural Wales remains the same as in 2008: building costs are higher than urban areas, despite the recession in the construction industry. The nimby lobby is still out in full strength, using "village green" applications and obscure ecological protection actions, plus any other planning objections they can make, to prevent or slow down new development of affordable housing.

The supply of temporary accommodation available to local authorities in rural Wales mainly consists of leased private rented properties. Despite Tai Ceredigion doubling its supply of properties for council use as temporary homeless accommodation – from 20 in 2009 to more than 40 in 2012 – our local council is on the verge of resorting to bed and breakfast accommodation for these vulnerable households.

The housing crisis also has a local political dimension: the latest 2011 census data release showed a further decline in Welsh speakers within Ceredigion, leading to calls for more local connection criteria in housing allocation. Add into the mix poor or non-existent public transport links and off-mains gas fuel poverty in one of the wettest counties in the UK. Worse is yet to come once interest rates start rising, fuelling repossessions in an area where homeless hostels rarely exist.

What can we do about this perfect storm of a crisis? What we have always done as housing professionals: we engage, we inform, we advise, and we strive to build more with less and manage what we have better.

So we are engaging with Welsh government to ensure that rural areas are properly considered in the forthcoming Wales Housing white paper; we are exploring new funding options for housing; and, we are advising our tenants about the welfare cuts that are on their way.

Above all we continue to lobby politicians of all parties about the need for more resources for housing, and question the lack of statutory powers to force development through – even when it may make us very unpopular.

Steve Jones is chief executive of Tai Ceredigion and chair of the All Wales Rural Housing Forum

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Join the housing network for analysis, best practice and the latest jobs opportunities