Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee

National Assembly for Wales

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff

CF99 1NA

Dear Committee Members,

The Wales Co-operative Centre welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Committee’s consultation on the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill.  The Wales Co-operative Centre is Wales’s national body for co-operatives, social enterprises and employee owned businesses. As well as supporting social businesses, we develop and implement co-operative solutions to tackle poverty and promote inclusion.    Our Co-operative Housing Project offers support and advice to new and existing organisations looking to develop housing co-operative schemes in Wales.  The approach offers affordable housing in a climate where mortgages are difficult to get and house prices too high for many buyers.

We broadly welcome the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill.  The Bill will help to prevent the loss of social housing stock through Right to Buy sales.  It will help to ensure a sustainable supply of social housing.  Those on waiting lists for social housing are likely to benefit as changes would result in more social housing being available.  It would particularly benefit those in most need.  The increased supply of social housing would also be beneficial to groups aiming to form housing co-operatives.

Housing co-operatives offer homes to people in housing need at affordable rents.  We believe that Right to Buy and Right to Acquire is a potential threat to the sustainability of the co-operative and should be restricted to mutual exchange.  We would welcome the restriction on the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire being implemented without delay.  This would mirror the situation in England with regards to co-operative housing where co-operative members do not have the right to buy their home and in some areas, there are restrictions on the right to carry out a mutual exchange.

We are happy to provide further information on our response and for our response to be in the public domain.

Yours Sincerely,

Ceri-Anne Fidler

Policy Officer,

Wales Co-operative Centre

Y Borth

13 Beddau Way

Caerphilly

CF83 2AX

0300 1115050

Ceri-Anne.Fidler@wales.coop