Housing: Welsh family 'may have to move to Scotland'

A family-of-eight fear having to split up or move to Scotland due to a "housing crisis" in Wales.

Sarah and Geraint, from Anglesey, said the only suitable housing for their six children is hundreds of miles away from family.

Almost 90,000 Welsh households are on a social housing waiting list and charities predict this is set to rise.

The Welsh government said it was "committed to supporting the housing sector" amid "significant demand".

In June, the family, who live in Llangristiolus, were given a no-fault eviction - where a landlord can evict a tenant without a specific reason.

They were given two months to vacate their home after the landlord's circumstances changed.

Sarah said they were "desperately trying to find houses around here," but they fear "the council has nothing".

"All they can offer is a hostel, B&B, or Premier Inn. They haven't got a place big enough for all of us," she said.

Sarah does not want to split up her children Michael,18, Alfie, 13, Matilda, 12, Sofia, eight, Freddie, five and Liberty, two.

Anyone over 16 can ask the local council for support to help find affordable housing. However, council housing properties usually have a long waiting list.

Research by Shelter Cymru and BBC found the list stood at 65,000 households in 2018, but figures obtained by the BBC show it is now 40% higher in 2022 at about 89,200 households.

Sarah said the emotional strain has been particularly tough on her husband, who has a history of mental health issues.

She said: "His mental health had begun to improve after the pandemic, but got worse when we were evicted. Some days he's confined to his bed."

It means she is bringing in the family's sole income, and worries this is affecting their chances of securing a home.

"When they see there's six children and only one of us working they're not going to go with us," she said.

They are now considering a move to Scotland, which would mean ending the children's Welsh-language education and moving away from family.

"We're all stressed and getting angry with each other, it's just not nice," she said.

"Why aren't there any more houses? Why isn't someone doing things to make this possible?"

She added her "life was over" if she needs to move and she wants to see "urgent action".

Anglesey council said it had seen an "unprecedented amount of no-fault evictions being issued".

A spokesperson said: "Under no circumstances would we threaten to split any household in order to provide emergency accommodation."

In Wales, Newport had the highest number of people waiting per household with seven in every 50 households on the list, followed by Merthyr Tydfil, the Vale of Glamorgan and Blaenau Gwent.

Newport Council said the area is dealing with "unprecedented demand" and "the availability of accommodation is simply not keeping pace with demand".

They added: "There was an increase in the number of households presenting as homeless and this has continued because of the current financial crisis.'

"Like many other areas around the country - we're facing a housing crisis that has not been experienced for many decades."

Housing charity Shelter Cymru has warned that the numbers of people waiting to access suitable housing is going to get much worse.

Chief executive Ruth Power said: "We're in a housing emergency.

"Based on the really significant increases over the last four years, and in the context of a cost of living and housing crisis, we would expect to see these figures rising.

"For months and years [families are] living in very poor conditions, because that's all [they] can afford or find."

The charity said it has more than 8,000 people in temporary accommodation, in addition to 89,000 households on waiting lists.

Ms Power added: "It is an enormous concern if we were to have further families tipped into homelessness.

"There is a need to intervene."

The Welsh government last year doubled its spending on social housing for rent, committing an initial £250m in 2021-2022 for 20,000 new low carbon homes.

But last week in the Senedd the housing minister, Julie James, said that target was "hanging by a thread" because of the economy.

She blamed the cost of living crisis - as well as problems in the construction industry - which were contributing to a "perfect storm of misery".

Community Housing Cymru - which represents housing associations in Wales, also has concerns.

It said housing associations are struggling to cope with the demand in house building due to rising costs.

Deputy chief executive Clarissa Corbisiero said: "We're seeing the impact of three crises in a short period of time: the public health crisis; an energy bills crisis; and a wider cost of living crisis.

"All governments need to recognise the challenge has changed and we need to see urgent action."

She added meeting the demand "is going to require housing associations and social landlords to really scale up the number of homes".

"That's not easy. It's never been more difficult to build homes in Wales. Costs have increased significantly. We're also seeing challenges with delays in the supply chain.

"It's really concerning."

A Welsh government spokesman said: "We believe everybody has a right to a decent, affordable home and are committed to supporting the housing sector during this period of significant demand in both the social and private rented sector.

"We are providing a record £310m for social housing this financial year, together with more than £190m for homelessness prevention and housing support - all of which supports our ambition to end homelessness and deliver 20,000 new low carbon homes for rent in the social sector during this government term."