Land & Planning

Access to affordable land and an effective planning system are essential to the delivery of new affordable homes, and both can have considerable effects on the viability of housing schemes. Research by the IPPR has shown that a dysfunctional land market and increasing land values can drive inequality and create the conditions for a broken housing market.

Following recommendations from the Independent Review of Affordable Housing Supply in 2019, Welsh government has established a unit tasked with bringing forward increased supply of public sector land for social housing schemes.

We are working with Welsh government to influence the remit of the new unit and ensure it works closely with housing associations to deliver appropriate land supply.

In February 2021, Welsh government launched a new national development framework for Wales. Future Wales, which places a strong emphasis on the delivery of affordable homes and placemaking will see Welsh government target its housing and planning interventions towards achieving increased supply of social and affordable housing by 2040.

Placemaking

Community Housing Cymru (CHC) are signatories to The Placemaking Charter Wales, which has been developed by the Welsh government and Placemaking Wales Partnership. The charter aims to strengthen the focus on placemaking in policy and practice in Wales, and to build a common understanding of the considerations that go into placemaking.

As signatories, CHC is committed to promoting the six principles of placemaking:

• People & community

• Movement

• Public realm

• Location

• Mix of uses

• Identity

You can find out more about the placemaking charter here.

Briefings/Useful Documents

• Future Wales: The National Plan 2040

• Placemaking Wales Charter

How we develop this area of work

Our future homes strategic delivery group plays a key role in informing our work on land and planning, and influencing Welsh government and other decision makers in this area.

Alongside this, CHC engages regularly with Welsh government officials on developments in this area, and works closely with other sector bodies including RTPI Cymru and the Home Builders’ Federation.

For more information on how we develop policy, click here.