Posted: Thu 25th May 2023

North Wales MS tells Wrexham Council to ‘get its act together’ on social housing

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 25th, 2023

A North Wales politician has called on Wrexham Council to “get its act together” and address the housing crisis in the county.

It comes after Wrexham Council confirmed that its housing waiting list had now grown to over 4,500 people, with the deputy leader of the local authority branding it a “housing crisis.”

Requests for housing to the local authority have surged in the last year due to the cost-of-living crisis and hikes in the private rental market.

A meeting of the council’s homes and environment committee was told last week that there was also an increase in people wanting to live in Wrexham due to its recent publicity and job opportunities, leading the housing team to receive enquiries from “all over”. ‌

Housing officer Tracy Hague said demand had “risen more than we could have anticipated” and gave figures for the last six months.

In that time 1,320 application forms had been received, and 14,702 phone calls answered by the 10-strong team receiving an average of about 80 calls a day. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The waiting list has increased from 1,800 in 2019, to 4,528 in 2023. The council currently has a stock of 11,055 properties on its books.

Plaid Cymru’s Llyr Gruffydd, who represents the region in the Senedd, has accused council leaders of having a “chaotic approach” to housing that is “letting down residents”.

Llyr Gruffydd MS said: “It isn’t an understatement to say that Wrexham is facing a housing crisis.

“It’s clear that there isn’t anywhere near enough council homes in the county and the Council does really need to get its act together quickly to address this issue.

“It needs to bring back houses into use for council homes, as well as invest sufficiently to build new affordable council houses.

“Unfortunately instead of getting to grips with the issue, the Council’s leadership has been sitting on its hands.

“It has created a Local Development Plan, which doesn’t have the support of local residents, and now it refuses to implement it.

“It means that Wrexham faces the worst of all worlds, with the wrong kinds of housing being built in the wrong places, while the kind of housing that is needed isn’t being built at all.

“It’s an absolute farce of the Council’s own making, and it’s those who are in desperate need of housing in the area who are paying the price.

“The cost of living crisis has undoubtedly driven up demand, but what that has done is exacerbated an issue caused by the inaction of the local authority.

“The waiting list for council was far too long before the cost of living crisis drove demand even higher.

“Access to safe, secure and affordable housing needs to be treated like a fundamental human right. The people of Wrexham deserve better.”



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