Written question WQ86012

This government is committed to increasing the supply of much needed homes across Wales. Our support for market housing remains an important component, with schemes such as Help to Buy - Wales making a valuable contribution to the housing sector. Since its launch in 2014, Help to Buy – Wales has delivered 2,583 homes in North Wales. The scheme is also an important source of support for house builders, large and small, and related supply chains.

In 2021-22, we allocated an additional £15 million across the Wales Property Development and Wales Stalled Sites Funds, bringing their respective funding totals to £54.5 million and £62.5 million. This recognises small and medium sized house builders can and should play a larger role in delivering the homes we need in Wales, given the schemes are specifically for SMEs.

The latest publication of New House Building in Wales statistics released on 7 July, shows that during 2021-22, the number of new dwellings started across Wales increased by 31% to 5,659 compared to 4,314 in 2020-21 when new dwellings started had fallen by a third, impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of new dwellings completed in 2021-22 across Wales was 5,273 up 14% on 2020-21, following a fall in completions in that year. Private sector completions increased by 29% to 4,391 across Wales and accounted for 83% of all completions, slightly higher than in recent years.