Welsh Journals

Housing Association Developments in Wales PETER JONES Department of Geography, Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education Housing associations have pursued a variety of development polic- ies in Wales in the years since the establishment of the Housing Cor- poration in 1964. By the early 1980s over 100 associations were reg- istered in the Principality some 35 were actively involved in devel- opment schemes and over £ 170 million had been allocated to hous- ing association projects. This paper examines the changing pattern of association activity and discusses the future role associations might play in providing housing within Wales'. Initially associations were involved in building new properties either for letting on a non-profit basis (fair rent projects) or for co- ownership schemes. Early progress was slow and by the end of the 1960s, although 50 societies had registered with the Housing Cor- poration less than 450 dwelling units had been completed. During the early 1970s the scale of Housing Corporation loan approvals to Welsh projects and the number of new developments both increased and by the end of the decade 1,100 co-ownership units and 3,200 fair rent dwellings had been completed. The majority of these 'new build' projects were small, involving less than 50 dwellings but some larger schemes were commissioned. The largest co-ownership scheme was completed on a 4 hectare site at Llanedeyrn on the north east edge of Cardiff where 5 associations were responsible for the development of over 300 bedsitters, flats and houses. Co-ownership schemes grew in popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By 1973 some 46 co-ownership associations were registered in Wales but their developments were concentrated in and around Cardiff and there was little development outside South Glamorgan. Fair rent developments are more widely spread through- out Wales. During the mid 1970s, for example, schemes were plann- ed or completed at Aberdare, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Llanelli, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport and Swansea in the south; at Aberystwyth, Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Rhadydaer and Welshpool in mid Wales; and at Colwyn, Deganwy, Rhyl and Wrexham in the north. The Housing Corporation now suggest 2 that many fair rent developments were duplicating local authority provision and young people from the professional classes formed the majority of the householders in the co-ownership schemes in and around Cardiff. The 1974 Housing Act marked a watershed for housing associat- ions. There was a major increase in the Government's financial support for association activities 3 and the types of development that associations could undertake were extended to include new building for the elderly and the handicapped, the provision of hostel accommodation and the improvement and rehabilitation of substand-