Cardiff council starts housing some homeless people outside the city

Martin Shipton

Some homeless people in Cardiff are from this month being housed in neighbouring local authority areas, the Welsh capital’s council has confirmed.

But the decision has not been universally welcomed, with senior councillors in some nearby areas believing the decision will make it more difficult for their authorities to house their homeless.

Nation.Cymru was contacted about the new policy by a senior Labour councillor from another south Wales council who said: “It’s worrying that other council areas are having housing options removed from them. It seems as if Cardiff is throwing its weight around.”

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Housing emergency

But a worker with the homeless in Cardiff said: “The fact is that quite a few homeless people in Cardiff are not from the city, but have moved there from other council areas. But in a sense, by adopting this policy Cardiff is simply returning some people to areas they came from originally.”

A spokesperson for Cardiff council said: “Cardiff continues to face a housing emergency, with unprecedented demand for support. Our temporary accommodation is full, and the lack of affordable housing in the city means households in temporary accommodation can wait for many months for an offer of permanent housing.

“While our housing development programme is delivering new council homes, and we've purchased a number of buildings to create more affordable housing rapidly, we’ve also made some policy changes to alleviate pressures and help people move out of temporary accommodation into permanent homes more quickly.

“This includes, where appropriate, offering private rented accommodation which is an important source of affordable housing, in neighbouring local authority areas where there are more options. An assessment will be carried out before any household is offered accommodation outside of Cardiff, to ensure that the offer is suitable for them.

“When we consulted on these changes last summer, more than two-thirds (67.9%) of respondents agreed with the proposal, including 35.3% who strongly agreed.

“The change is coming into effect from February.”

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Consultation

Details of the consultation were shared with Cardiff councillors in September 2024. A report produced at the time said: “Working in partnership with the Cardiff Research Centre, an extensive consultation has recently taken place on homelessness services in Cardiff. The consultation was available online and via paper copies in community hubs.

“The survey sought views on a number of homelessness services, in addition to proposed policy changes to alleviate immediate housing pressures and help people move out of temporary accommodation into permanent homes more quickly. These policy changes include making better use of the private rented sector and offering private rented accommodation outside of Cardiff, and offering those in temporary accommodation permanent accommodation wherever suitable social housing becomes available in the city.

“The survey was live between July 17 2024 and September 1 2024 and a total of 2,892 responses were received. Over two-thirds (67.9%) of respondents agreed with the proposal to offer private rented accommodation outside of Cardiff. This included 35.3% who strongly agreed. In contrast, one in five (19.7%) respondents disagreed with the proposal.

“Almost three in four (73.6%) respondents agreed with the proposal to offer those in temporary accommodation permanent accommodation wherever suitable housing becomes available in the city. This included 43.6% of respondents who strongly agreed. In contrast, around one in seven (13.6%) respondents disagreed.

“Given these results, the changes to policy around offering properties out of county where appropriate and also, where appropriate, offering homeless applicants permanent housing wherever suitable housing becomes available in the city, will be taken forward. The policy changes will be implemented once new procedures have been drafted and staff have been fully trained.”

There are approximately 8,000 people on the common waiting list in Cardiff, with more than 400 new applications received each month.