Shelter Cymru is calling on the next Welsh Government to prioritise a person-centred approach to homelessness across Wales to help rebuild the country’s broken housing system.
This is the first of four key asks set out in the charity’s manifesto, seeking to ensure that everyone has access to a safe, secure, suitable and genuinely affordable home.
Lauren Caley, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said: “Homelessness and the risk of homelessness is a traumatic experience that no one should have to go through.
“But each year, more and more families and individuals are reaching out to us for help because they’re facing or experiencing homelessness.”
Shelter Cymru launched its manifesto at the Eisteddfod in Wrexham earlier this month, looking to make homes the number one issue at the Senedd election on 7 May next year.
The publication contains four main asks for incoming MSs, the first of which is to put people at the heart of their approach to homelessness throughout the country.
Lauren added: “The Welsh Government has rightly taken steps in recent years to make changes ensuring that people who need help can access it.”
She explained that includes making sure anyone who would be living on the streets is offered temporary accommodation, instead of sleeping rough.
“Temporary accommodation provides people who are going through homelessness with a roof, but it is far from a home,” said Lauren.
“My colleagues and I have spoken with families who are stuck living in budget hotels, caravans and cramped flats. And it’s far from temporary – some people have been there for two years.”
She recalled many conversations with parents, who were worried about their children’s health and how the experience of homelessness could affect them for the rest of their lives.
Shelter Cymru has put forward several solutions, like providing more funding for homelessness prevention services to make sure people are offered help before they reach crisis point.
The charity is also calling for an end to “gatekeeping tests”, which stop people from being able to access the help they need when they need it.
Lauren said another solution would be for the new Welsh Government to build a system that can pull in specialist health, financial and other support to help people facing homelessness.
She added: “We know that ending the housing emergency is possible if we start taking the right steps today.
“In the last two decades, Wales and other parts of the UK have taken big steps to help make homelessness rarer. When governments want to make homes and homelessness a priority, they can achieve big changes.”
Fill in our survey to tell us what matters to you when it comes to home. You can also sign our Vote for Home pledge to be a part of ending the housing emergency in Wales.
27 August 2025
By Liz Day
