In 2026, Wales will face possibly its most consequential set of elections since devolution. But regardless of who wins and who leads the next Welsh Government one thing is certain: the housing emergency in Wales will continue unless they make ending it a priority.
Right now, the housing emergency feels to many like it is worsening and in many cases the statistics support that belief with 1 in every 215 households in Wales homeless and trapped in temporary accommodation and more than 170,000 people on waiting lists for a social home.
Every day Shelter Cymru sees the human impact of this. The education and employment opportunities lost, the lives on hold, and the damage caused to mental and physical health.
People & Homes is a conference that has a role to play in changing this.
For decades it is a conference that has helped shape the debate on housing in Wales, bringing together policy experts, politicians and people with lived experience to discuss and identify the solutions to the shared challenge we all face.
Supported by the Lloyds Bank Foundation, People and Homes 2025 will continue to do just this.
To find the right solutions though we need to ensure that a variety of voices are heard and that those with deep expertise in housing are joined by experts in other fields and by people who have lived the reality of a housing and homelessness system that isn’t fit for purpose. To help make this happen we are working hard to increase accessibility through a range of funded tickets for people who might otherwise be unable to attend.
Places are available to any organisation or individual that meets the following criteria and that would otherwise be unable to attend:
- Individuals with lived experience
- Local community campaigners
- Frontline housing and homelessness organisations
- Organisations working on issues that connect to the housing emergency in Wales today (e.g. those supporting groups disproportionally impacted)
- Individual activists
- Students focused on relevant research areas
- Individuals and communities disproportionally impacted by the housing emergency in Wales
These places are limited and will be allocated to individuals and organisations following the receipt of expressions of interest.
If you would like to take up one of the spaces, then all you need to do is contact [email protected] , telling us if you’d like to attend online or in-person, and – if possible – providing some information on you or your organisation.
Key Information
People & Homes 2025 takes place on Wednesday 22 October at the Cardiff Marriott Hotel and will put building a vision to end homelessness at the heart of the discussion with expert speakers and engaging workshops that offer insight into areas such as:
- The role of the public sector in supporting local authorities to end homelessness
- The potential impact of new homelessness legislation
- How the housing emergency impacts different communities in Wales
- What polling can tell us about the public’s view on the housing emergency in Wales
We will also have keynote speeches and talks from the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning and award-winning journalist Will Hayward.
You can find more information on People & Homes 2025 at our website here. The conference is also an opportunity to network with a range of key people working in housing and homelessness across Wales as well as those with views on how we change the system for the better.
As an organisation we are committed to making People & Homes a conference that can be accessed by the widest audience possible. If you think there is more, we can do to make this possible then please don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know, we always welcome feedback.
