Much has been made in recent weeks of the fact the Welsh Government has now passed its first 100 days in office. A milestone that matters because both before and after the elections in May, the First Minister and his team were clear that these would be vital days, ones that would lay the groundwork for the work that is to follow in delivering the ambitions put forward in the Plaid Cymru manifesto.
So, after 100 days, there is a question worth asking about how far housing and homelessness policies put forward before the election have translated into the ‘to-do lists’ of Welsh Government Ministers?
For Shelter Cymru, there is also an important question around how far the actions and commitments of the first 100 days deliver against the clear priorities we set out in our pre-election manifesto: Home is Everything. Vote for It. A manifesto that focused on a number of issues, including:
- Improving homelessness prevention and ensuring that the systems we have in Wales are truly people centered and trauma informed.
- Ensuring private renting as a tenure works for those who rely on it, not least by ending no-fault, no-reason evictions and introducing controls on rents.
- Expanding the provision of social homes so that everyone who needs one can access one.
- Embedding a Right to Adequate Housing into law in Wales.
Homelessness prevention
As a provider of advice and support to more than 21,000 people per year, many of whom are at risk of homelessness, ensuring that prevention is embedded at the heart of the homelessness system is vitally important to Shelter Cymru as an organisation.
Although it does not form part of the Plaid Cymru Government legislation priorities, as it already passed the Senedd, The Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Act 2026, is key to achieving this. The act was legislation that was passed during the 6th Senedd with the support of Plaid Cymru.
However, in practical terms this legislation means very little to people in Wales until it is implemented. Which is why Shelter Cymru and others have advocated strongly for an ambitious timeline to be set out by the new Welsh Government. At this stage, public information about that implementation timeline remains scarce. While we have confidence that the Government is committed to delivering this it’s vital that more information is made available in the near future to enable organisations like us to begin planning for how we will support people to realise the new rights they’ve been given.
In addition, we think it’s important that the way in which this implementation is done includes a significant role for organisations who deliver housing advice and support. Organisations who will be well placed to feedback on the practical realities of how the new changes being introduced are working to actually prevent homelessness and better support those at risk of it.
Private renting
Approaching half of households who contact Shelter Cymru for support are privately renting, facing issues that include the cost of renting, evictions, and poor conditions. This is why Shelter Cymru campaigns for greater rights and support for renters, which is why we welcome both the commitments made in the Plaid Cymru manifesto, and the promise of legislation focused on improving the private rented sector in Wales.
In addition, it’s been encouraging to see strong engagement from Senedd Members around renting issues, with several new members raising issues like the affordability of private rents since their election.
While we are still waiting for more details on how commitments to fair rents and no-fault evictions will be delivered in practice the overall direction of travel on private renting seems positive.
Social homes
Ultimately, any solution to the housing emergency must include a significant increase in the number of social homes in Wales. Fortunately, the new Welsh Government has inherited a strong base to start from with this issue, as the previous government did see significant success in expanding delivery over the course of the 6th Senedd.
Since taking office Plaid Cymru have been clear that they intend to continue this trend and have committed to deliver 20,000 social homes in the coming 4-years – an ambitious and likely difficult to reach target. In addition, they have further tightened the definition of what will be classed as a social home beyond that used by the previous government.
At Shelter Cymru we again welcome the intention here, and through plans such as Unnos it’s clear that work is taking place to think about delivery. However, one thing that does remain a concern for us is the continuation of a focus on numerical targets over outcomes. Towards the end of the 6th Senedd it often appeared that reaching the then target for 20,000 social homes mattered more to the government than putting in place a sustainable pipeline that avoided significant peaks and troughs in delivery. While the nature of how social homes are funded in Wales does exacerbate this, a shift in focus to delivering year on year increases in the number of social homes available in Wales might well have greater long-term benefit than repeated targets.
Right to Adequate Housing
Shelter Cymru has long been part of the campaign for the Right to Adequate Housing in Wales. Something that stems from our belief that home is a human right, and that everyone in Wales should be able to access a safe, secure, suitable and genuinely affordable place to live.
Legislating for a Right to Adequate Housing has also been a longstanding commitment from Plaid Cymru and is one that appears in both their manifesto and their legislative plans. In both instances, we believe this represents a significant victory for our campaigning and for a rights-based approach to ending the housing emergency in Wales, and we are excited to work with the government to deliver the legislation in due course.
In advance of that legislation though we would encourage the government to act swiftly to embed the principles that will underpin the work into their approach to housing. And into other activities that other ministers are working on, for example around health services.
Conclusion
While just over 100 days in government brings an expectation of activity Shelter Cymru has always recognised that problems decades in the making will require solutions that simply don’t fit into such a time period. Despite this, it has been hugely positive to hear Senedd Members from all sides focus on homes and homelessness. Senedd Members are showing an understanding that there’s no quick fix, but we can’t go on as we are, watching the housing emergency devastate communities across Wales. The outcomes that the people of Wales need are those that will end the housing emergency and prevent anyone from becoming homelessness.
Looking ahead to the coming months it’s clear that more detail is needed on a range of issues, from homelessness prevention to legislation on renting. But right now we remain optimistic that the priorities being put forward by the new government on housing make sense and point towards changes that will benefit the individuals and families turning to us for help.
Despite this, one concern we do have is around the potential for the debate on housing to descend into a focus about deserving and undeserving people. A focus on blaming and scapegoating instead of seeking out the solutions necessary to fix the very foundations of the challenges we face.
The Senedd returns on 14th of September and now is an opportunity to see action. Action that isn’t designed to meet a deadline of 100 days but rather that will transform the housing system in Wales for the better.
