London rule stops housebuilding

Welsh councils are efffectively being prevented from building new council houses by rules imposed by the Treasury in London, according to Plaid Cymru. And Plaid Councillors in Carmarthenshire are calling for a change in policy so that councils can start building houses again. Cllr John Edwards, Plaid's Housing spokesman on the council, said, "The rules applying to councils and housing associations are quite different. The effect is that it is more cost-effective to give social housing grants to housing associations than to give them to councils, and this deters councils from building houses.

"The Prime Minister has recently spoken about encouraging councils to build more new houses, and I would welcome that. It would help us to meet local housing needs and provide a boost to the local economy. But, at this stage, it's the rules laid down by his government which prevent that from happening. And we know who was Chancellor of the Exchequer for most of the past 12 years."