Call for overhaul of Mid Wales house allocations
Monday 13th December 2010, 12:40PM GMT.
Housing chiefs in Mid Wales are calling for a “radical overhaul” of the system used for allocating homes after finding 40 per cent of people in Powys are unable to afford a mortgage.
Mid Wales Housing Association said there was a “housing crisis” and priority should be given to the employed who “contribute” to society and not to people with “problems”.
The Welsh Assembly said in response that increasing affordable homes was a priority.
The housing association said it wanted to abandon the existing way of allocating housing based on a points system. Instead, it wants a banding system which gives priority to local people, those in employment and those who contribute in a positive way to their community through volunteering.
The association, which has 1,250 homes across Mid Wales, described the housing situation as “shocking”.
It said nearly 40 per cent of households in Powys could not afford to buy a home or rent from private landlords.
It claimed that a huge sector of the population was reliant on affordable housing from councils or housing associations.
A Welsh Assembly Government spokeswoman said increasing the number of affordable homes was a priority, adding statistics out last month showed “we have already exceeded our four-year target by delivering 6,707 new affordable homes, one year ahead of schedule.”
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