Agenda item

To submit a report by the Head of Housing Services.

Councillor Alun Mummery, Portfolio Member for Housing and Supporting Communities presented the report by the Head of Housing Services incorporating the Housing Strategy for 2022/27 as part of the Service’s response to the local housing challenge.

The Portfolio Member for Housing and Supporting Communities commended the document as a positive response to the local housing challenge focusing on six key themes that will provide a basis for identifying what the issues are and how the Strategy intends to address those issues in the short term of 1 to 2 years and medium term to long term over the course of the Strategy. He thanked all the Officers who has been involved in developing the Strategy for the work that had gone into producing a thoughtful and farsighted document which he was pleased to say had caught the attention of the local press reflecting the measures that have and are being taken by the Authority to respond to the local housing challenge.

The Housing Strategy Commissioning and Policy Officer said that the Housing Strategy has been brought to the Executive for approval after a period of consultation and collaboration; it introduces six themes which show what the Authority is going to do under each theme and how it will do it. The Authority will now consider how it will monitor the achievement of the Strategy’s objectives and bring its partners into that process.

Councillor Aled Morris Jones, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee presented Scrutiny’s perspective on the Housing Strategy from its meeting on 24 January, 2022 and reported that the Committee had noted that the issues of second homes and property market pressures had featured prominently in the consultation responses. The Committee in noting also that an internal task and finish group had been established to respond to Welsh Government’s consultation on the second homes issue, recognised that intervention and positive action by Welsh Government is needed to help ensure the availability of local homes for local people. The Committee also raised concerns about the impact of rising energy costs on households in driving more people into fuel poverty.  Councillor Aled Morris Jones confirmed that having considered the documentation presented and the responses to matters raised the Corporate Scrutiny Committee was supportive of the Housing Strategy and had recommended its approval to the Executive.

The Executive welcomed the strategy as a key component of the approach to meeting the local housing challenge and addressing housing issues on the Island recognising also the interface with the Local Development Plan and Place Shaping Plan and the importance of having the right houses in the right places. That the strategy also takes account of the input by the wider public was considered important and the consultation process was acknowledged. The Chair said that ultimately the Strategy is about putting a roof over people’s heads and because it is wide-reaching, the strategy seeks to help people in a range of circumstances as well as recognising that people want to live within their communities on Anglesey.

It was resolved to approve the Housing Strategy for 2022 to 2027.