A SENEDD report published today says the Welsh government must build more social housing.

The local government and housing committee’s latest inquiry called for the creation of a national development corporation to speed up housebuilding by buying land and planning housing across Wales.

The scrutiny committee’s report found that local authorities and housing associations are struggling to build the number of houses required.

Committee chair John Griffiths (Labour) said: “The Welsh government has a long way to go if they are to reach their target of 20,000 new homes by 2026.

“The Welsh government must work with local authorities and housing associations to make sure that this message gets through.”

The housing committee report said the Welsh government needed to look at all the options at its disposal to tackle the problem.

“Empowering the Development Bank of Wales to become a direct funder of social housing developments is one way to boost the number of homes being built.  

“If we want to get to grips with the housing crisis then we have to build more social housing urgently — before the waiting lists get even longer,” Mr Griffiths said.

The Welsh government has a target to build 20,000 new homes by 2026, but the committee is concerned that the target will not be met, and may still not be sufficient to address demand.

A Welsh government spokesperson said it would consider the findings and respond in due course.

“Tackling homelessness and delivering more homes is a key priority and we have set a challenging target and allocated record levels of funding to housing supply this Senedd term, with more than £1.4 billion invested so far.”