Agenda item

In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, Councillor Delyth Lloyd Griffiths will propose as follows:-

 

A house has been exchanged a number of times in a small village in a rural ward in Gwynedd. This happened during a time when 12 local people (family units) were waiting for social housing in the village. The householders are not from Wales and were not waiting for more than 12 months.

 

Cyngor Gwynedd’s letting policy is undermined every time a house is exchanged while local people remain on the waiting list for long periods without being able to secure a home.

 

This council believes that the Welsh Government's practice of exchanging social housing should cease immediately, unless the house is exchanged within the local authority. I seek Cyngor Gwynedd's support today to put pressure on the Welsh Government to change the law to meet the need for local housing.

 

In order to satisfy the need for local housing, this Council brings pressure to bear on the Welsh Government for the practice of exchanging social housing to cease immediately, unless the house is exchanged within the local authority, or close to the county's boundary.

 

 

Submitted - the following notice of motion by Councillor Delyth Lloyd Griffiths under Section 4.19 of the Constitution, and it was seconded: -

 

In order to satisfy the need for local housing, this Council brings pressure to bear on the Welsh Government for the practice of exchanging social housing to cease immediately, unless the house is exchanged [other than] within the local authority, or close to the county's boundary.

 

The member set out the context to her motion, noting:

 

·         That a house in a rural village in her ward had been swapped twice in the past two years with people from outside Wales, and advertised again online this week. 

·         Adra reported that 50 of their houses have been swapped in the last year, with only 4 swapped with people from outside Gwynedd. The other housing associations also reported low figures.  However, if this was a national pattern, it meant that 88 houses had been transferred in the last year to tenants who are not on any waiting list for a house in Wales.

·         Cyngor Gwynedd's allocations policy was being undermined every time a house was swapped while local people remained on the waiting list for long periods of time without being able to secure a home.

 

During the discussion, the following observations were made: -

 

It was suggested that the ability to exchange social housing was a means of solving problems or improving the situation of individuals or families, and enabled people to stay in their communities. However, this required better management. It was noted that the proposer, in submitting her motion, had stated that the practice of social housing exchanges should be ended unless the house was exchanged within the local authority, or very close to the county boundary.  However, as the original proposal as it appeared on this meeting's agenda did not contain the words 'or very close to the county boundary', and the wish was to propose a formal amendment to this end.⁠⁠ Concern was raised about restricting exchanges to Gwynedd only as some communities close to the county border had close contact with communities in a neighbouring county.

 

The Monitoring Officer noted that as the proposer had recited the words 'or very close to the county boundary', that she could, with the meeting's consent, modify the motion without proceeding to have a formal amendment.

 

The proposer agreed to modify her proposal and the meeting consented to that.

 

It was asked what 'very close' meant.⁠ ⁠ In response, the Monitoring Officer noted that there was no legal term for ' close' and that it would not be appropriate for the Council to attempt to produce a precise definition of that.⁠ ⁠ The motion asked the Council to write to the Welsh Government with a request to change the law and that this was the place to have that detailed discussion.

 

It was suggested that the proposal was almost irrelevant as the numbers of exchanges involved were very small and everyone's circumstances were different. The housing associations also had tight procedures in terms of allowing swaps, including debt checks, etc. It was also noted that it was not understood why we were trying to restrict people's movements if they have a good reason to move to another part of the country.

 

It was noted that some areas were not popular, and if housing exchanges were not allowed, we could be left with empty houses.  It was noted that some people may wish to move out of the area due to family commitments or job opportunities, and it was up to the housing associations to decide whether to allow them to swap their houses.  It was also suggested that the proposal should be aimed at the housing associations, rather than the Government, and that the Council should be in discussion with the housing associations to try and work out a solution for this.  In response, the Chief Executive noted that these conversations regularly occur with the housing associations through the Housing Partnership, but in this particular case, it was a legislative right that was entirely beyond the powers of the housing associations.

 

It was noted that the motion involved a marginal issue, and it was suggested that there were more central issues in social housing, e.g. housing associations appealing against decisions to refuse planning permission to build estates in places such as Botwnnog.  However, it was noted that the proposal should be supported accepting that this was one aspect of a much larger problem. 

 

It was noted that the Council was not thought to be effectively monitoring the linguistic impact that movements in social housing occupancy were having, and that it was inevitable that the housing exchanges would have a detrimental linguistic impact.

 

It was noted that the exchange system needed to be controlled, and that the housing associations themselves were also asking for more control.  It was suggested that Gwynedd Social Housing Options, the Council's Housing Department and the housing associations should lobby the Government to change the rules so that local people do not fall victim to the wishes of people wanting to move here and there.  It was noted that full consideration could be given to worthy applications to exchange, ensuring that we do not lose Welsh speakers.  However, the regime was currently ad-hoc and undermined the hard efforts to get housing to Gwynedd families.

 

It was suggested that local councillors should have input to who moves into social housing in their area.

 

In her closing comments, the proposer stated: -

·         That neither housing associations nor the Council's housing officers had any control over the situation at all.

·         Unlike the towns, a low number of housing exchanges have a large impact in rural areas.

·         That all social housing in the county should be for people on the housing list in Gwynedd.

 

RESOLVED to adopt the motion, namely: -

 

In order to satisfy the need for local housing, this Council brings pressure to bear on the Welsh Government for the practice of exchanging social housing to cease immediately, unless the house is exchanged [other than] within the local authority, or close to the county's boundary.