PPIW - 2016 English with Hyperlinks

Housing and Communities
Working with experts from University of Cambridge’s
Centre for Housing and Planning Research, we
analysed future need and demand for housing in
Wales. The report highlighted the need to return to
rates of house building not seen for almost 20 years
and a significant increase in the rate of growth of
affordable housing.
We published an evidence review on the current
state of older people’s housing in Wales and
recommendations on how to meet the housing
needs of this group. Our report of recommendations,
written by Dr Sarah Hillcoat-Nalletemby from
Swansea University, calls on the Welsh Government to
implement short term measures and adopt a long term
strategy to provide ‘future-proofed’ and ‘age-sustainable’
housing solutions to tackle the growing housing
shortage facing older people.
We worked with Professor Christine Whitehead and
Kath Scanlon from the London School of Economics
to analyse the changing role of the private rented
sector in Wales, which more than doubled in size
between 2001 and 2013. We also published two reports
on homelessness: a feasibility study by Tamsin Stirling
considered how to evaluate the contribution that the
Supporting People Programme makes to tackling
homelessness in Wales, and Anna Whalen analysed
ways of improving provision for young care leavers
who are at risk of becoming homeless.
We published a review of the impact of
welfare reforms on housing policy in Wales,
concluding that the changes will hit the most
deprived communities and most vulnerable groups
hardest, and recommending commissioning research
to shed light on the ways in which housing policies
could help mitigate the impacts of welfare reform.
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