Agenda item

To consider the report.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Head of Housing and Property Department. ⁠She referred briefly to the following main points: 

It was reported that a number of the Department's projects and plans contributed to the objectives of the Council's language strategy, such as the Housing Action Plan. It was explained that this plan included over 30 projects that aimed to tackle the housing crisis in Gwynedd and strive to ensure that the people of Gwynedd had access to suitable, affordable housing of a good standard to improve their quality of life. Pride was expressed that over 8,000 local individuals had received support through this plan to date.

It was explained that the Department's Empty Homes Scheme addressed the lack of housing for local people. It was noted that 101 grants had been distributed to the buyers of empty houses who had a local connection to assist them in renovating them to an acceptable standard of living. It was updated that this scheme had recently been expanded to include empty houses that used to be second homes. It was explained that this scheme was previously only applicable to first-time buyers but in order to respond to the public's high demand for support from this scheme, it was expanded to all types of buyers and helped them to address increased materials and construction costs.

It was confirmed that the Department gave thorough consideration to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 as well as to the equality and linguistic impacts and Socio-economic duties within the plans. There was pride in the Department's positive impact on equality characteristics and the Welsh language by increasing the range of housing available within the County to try and meet the needs of communities. It was elaborated that 63% of Gwynedd residents, who had been priced out of the housing market, had received support to access affordable homes, loans, grants or tax relief. It was noted that Adra Housing Association had recently shared data with the Department, confirming that 94% of the residents of a new estate in Dinas, Llanwnda were able to speak Welsh, and similarly, that 96% of the residents of a new estate in Tregarth had Welsh language skills. An intention was expressed to submit a report to Cabinet to highlight the impact of this scheme, endeavouring to extend it until 2028/29.

It was reminded that the Department was leading on the Homely Gwynedd project, which was part of the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan. It was reported that the Department achieved this by increasing the supply of housing for local people. It was assured that this was a priority to ensure that the residents of Gwynedd had suitable, affordable homes of a good standard through tenancy, support to buy a house or to renovate empty houses. There was pride that 97% of lettings through the housing register went to someone with a connection to Gwynedd, with approximately 60% going to individuals with a connection to the community in which they wish to live. It was explained that a Common Housing Allocation Policy was in place to ensure that local people were given reasonable priority when letting houses. It was pointed out that the Department received several requests from community groups and some Community Councils to add a language condition as part of the social housing letting process. It was clarified that the Department was currently receiving legal advice on this.

It had been recognised that the main systems used were purchased from external companies and were therefore only available in English. However, it was ensured that the Department was developing apps in-house solely in Welsh and extensive use was being made of them.

It was explained that the Department kept a record of how many people used the services through the medium of Welsh by asking anyone who filled out an application form for social housing to indicate their language preference for the purpose of contacting them. It was noted that the system did not currently allow the Department to report on this information but a new system was in the pipeline that would allow the sharing of that information. It was elaborated that the Department also ensured that any correspondence was circulated bilingually, with the Welsh language first to encourage and promote the use of the language, ensuring also that any information shared on social media was placed so that the Welsh language was read first.

Pride was expressed that 88.1% of the department's staff had completed a language assessment, confirming that 95.4% of those staff members met the language designation of their posts. It was noted that a lack of confidence prevented some individuals from achieving the language designation of the post, as the vast majority of staff in the department reached Proficiency or Higher level in Welsh.

During the discussion, the following observations were made: 

In response to comments that a person who was local to a community in Gwynedd did not necessarily possess Welsh language skills, the Head of Department explained that the data obtained on the numbers of Welsh speakers came from the individuals who had received an allocation and was shared by the housing associations. It was elaborated that housing associations would come under the Welsh Language Standards in the near future and would therefore be required to collect data on linguistic elements from that point on.

In response to an enquiry for clarity on what was meant by having a connection to Gwynedd or a specific area when considering letting houses, the Head of Department confirmed that statutory criteria had been adopted within the Housing Allocation Policy. It was elaborated that these standard criteria had been amended in Gwynedd in order to require that applicants for housing had a connection to the community or the County. It was noted that the Department had gone to the limit by adding these considerations to the criteria as people looking for houses in their home areas were given priority over people from other areas. It was stressed that the Department was highly considerate of not introducing conditions which could be regarded as discriminatory among candidates. It was reiterated that legal advice would be required before any further amendment was introduced.

It was noted that the Health Service was finding it challenging to recruit staff in some areas of Gwynedd. The Head of Department was asked if anyone moving to the area to work for the Health Service would be given priority for a house, despite the language condition, in order to serve the communities. In response, the Head of Department confirmed that there was currently no language condition being considered when letting houses and it would not affect their chances of receiving a house. However, it was confirmed that other factors could affect this particular situation such as how long they had been living in the area, resulting in an initial disadvantage when applying for a home.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and to note the observations received.