Labour sits back and lets housing standards slip

Labour government send £73m of housing revenue to UK treasury

The new Labour government has been slammed by Plaid Cymru for sitting back and letting housing standards slip while handing £73m, which could otherwise be spent on housing, over to the UK treasury.

Responding to a statement by the Minister for housing, Leanne Wood – who speaks for Plaid Cymru on housing, said:

“In his statement, the Minister appears to simply accept that only 39% of local authorities are expected to meet Welsh Housing Quality Standards (WHQS). The WHQS were put in place in order to ensure that people living in social housing could expect a basic standard and it is unacceptable that so much housing will not meet the basic standards as set out by government. Local authorities are under severe financial pressure due to the huge cuts from the Tories and Lib Dems at Westminster which begs the question: why is the Minister is handing over £73m to the UK treasury which could otherwise be spent on improving housing stock?”

Plaid Cymru AM for the mid and west region, Simon Thomas, added:

“The Welsh housing Minister’s statement is frankly astounding. In one statement he accepts widespread failure to achieve housing standards and tells the Assembly that he will be handing over £73m to the UK treasury via the Housing Revenue Subsidy Account without putting up a fight. This is the party that claims to stand up for Wales, but the reality is that the new Labour government sits back and accepts whatever the ConDems throw at it.”