Cardiff should ensure luxury developers contribute their fair share to tackle city housing crisis - a letter to the Echo

A tower block of the kind which is raised in Cardiff, without securing ‘planning gain’ to support affordable housing

Letter published in the South Wales Echo on 20 October 2022

Dear Editor,

It was sad to read of the plight of Leanne Hallisey, who lives in a one-bedroom flat with her partner and three children, and the experiences of other homeless families in Cardiff, (‘City’s Housing Crisis’, South Wales Echo, 17 October).

As your article rightly points out, the many empty properties in the city bear witness to a tragic waste of much needed resources. But there is another tragically underused resource available to our local politicians – ‘planning gain’ agreements with developers have been made through out the city, in the recent past.

Under such agreements, developers seeking permission to build, for instance, luxury flats in Cardiff, pledge specific sums to provide affordable housing in relevant areas of the city. Too often, they are allowed to evade their responsibilities under such agreements, frequently with the excuse that they can no longer afford to provide the Council with the promised funds!

If the Council held these companies to stricter account, perhaps more Cardiff families would be able enjoy secure, affordable homes.