Council sends back £200k of social housing cash to Welsh Government

Nearly £200,000 of funding allocated to spend on social housing in Monmouthshire was returned to the Welsh Government last year – while more than 3,000 families remain on the authority’s waiting list.

Council bosses say they have faced problems obtaining land for housing projects, with land owners opting to choose more lucrative schemes.

The authority spent £5.2million of its Welsh Government social housing grant last year, resulting in an underspend of £194,376.

Louise Corbett, strategy and policy officer for affordable housing, said it had been a “challenging year” for land prices which had meant some planned schemes had fallen through.

Questioned over the issue at a meeting of the council’s adults select committee on Tuesday, Ms Corbett said: “It’s an ongoing problem we have got in Monmouthshire.

“There is a lot of competition for all available land.

“Housing associations could build a lot more and we could probably do a lot more with different funding streams if we had the land to put the properties on.”

Ms Corbett said it is the first time the council has not spent its housing grant but the authority does not expect the issue to be repeated.

Cllr Frances Taylor said the issue of using land for housing schemes should be looked at in the Local Development Plan, to help find “innovative and imaginative solutions.”

The Conservative-led authority delivered 112 affordable homes using Welsh Government social housing grants last year.

Housing schemes included buying back 17 former council houses, launching a rent-to-own scheme and delivering 84 new build homes.

But figures show there are 3,269 households on the housing register as of March 31 this year, the highest number for five years.

The average house price in the county now stands at £301,901, considerably above the Wales average of £185,529.

A council report says it is recognised house prices have risen “to a level beyond that which is affordable to many local people.”

A spokeswoman for the council said it is “committed to continually improving housing-related services and tackling issues like homelessness and the lack of affordable housing.”

The council’s adults select committee also backed a call by councillor Ruth Edwards, to consider ways of helping more people in rural areas find affordable housing.