Housing and homelessness are among the most challenging issues we have to tackle in Monmouthshire. There is far too big a gap between local house prices and what many people can afford. It is forcing many, often younger workers, to live outside the county. It is not a new problem but it is getting worse. The cost-of-living crisis and rising interest rates make it hard for many people to get a mortgage, to keep up with payments, or to afford private rents which are rising steeply.

And when people lose their homes, it has consequences that last the rest of their lives. So during the pandemic the Welsh Government rightly took the view that nobody should be left out and homeless people were found places in hotels and other temporary accommodation.

In Monmouthshire we are building on that with our ‘Housing First’ approach, supporting people to get and maintain a tenancy. We are doing this by working with the Welsh Government, but it comes at a significant cost. And longer term we have to attend to the distorted housing market.

Our Local Development Plan outlines what will be built in the future, and our approach has affordable housing at its heart. So, over the next decade it will deliver a significant number of low-cost, low-carbon homes to rent and to buy.

That is the future. In the meantime, we are earmarking plots of council-owned land that can be developed for new, low-cost homes, and identifying buildings that can be brought back into use.

We have to do things differently to make sure everyone in Monmouthshire has a secure home they can live in and afford to heat. To this end we are working with housing associations. And our Monmouthshire Letting Service is offering a great package for private landlords willing to lease homes to the Council for people in housing need.

We can’t solve Monmouthshire’s housing problems overnight. The damage to our economy by those in Westminster, high house prices and cuts in public spending are all working against us. And we’re having to deal with decades of under-investment locally. But we’re making a start.