In First Minister’s Questions today, James Evans, the MS for Brecon & Radnorshire, questioned the First Minister on the lack of houses built in Powys.
In Powys, there are around 4,500 households waiting for social housing and Evans called on Drakeford to take action in order to fix the problem, asking “do you think removing things like the phosphate regulations imposed by Natural Resources Wales would go some way to unblocking the planning system?”
In his response, First Minister Drakeford warned of negative environmental impacts and said “we have to find a sustainable solution that building those houses does not have guaranteed into them additional pollution impact on rivers that are already—already—over-polluted.”
The lack of houses has led to a significant number of renters across Wales - according to Rightmove, rental costs in Wales are rising quicker than anywhere in the UK outside of London.
James said:
“The Labour Government in Cardiff Bay is simply not building enough houses.
“This is a Wales-wide problem, but in our area the phosphate regulations imposed by Natural Resources Wales are another huge barrier to housebuilding.
“We need to build, build, build so people can own their own homes and don’t feel that they have to leave our area in order to prosper.”
