CIH Cymru welcomes publication of the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill  

CIH Cymru has welcomed today’s publication of the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill. 

This bill proposes wide-reaching changes to how homelessness is prevented and relieved in Wales, including a stronger emphasis on preventing homelessness in the first place. This includes wider public sector responsibility for identifying those individuals at risk of homelessness to ensure stronger cooperative working across Wales’ public services.  

However, whilst the new legislation is welcomed, there are still significant structural issues that need to be addressed alongside the implementation of new homelessness legislation. 

Our 2025 Sector Snapshot asked respondents what was needed to end homelessness in Wales. Those responding were clear we need an increased supply of homes, increased funding and need to tackle wider housing unaffordability. 

Our previous snapshots in 2023 and 2024 have also outlined that the pace and scale of change has left staff feeling overwhelmed. High workloads were identified as a major issue for local authority teams, as was the need for a larger workforce to effectively implement changes proposed by Welsh government.  

The wide-ranging changes in the bill are welcomed by the sector, as people work in housing to make a difference in people’s lives, something the new bill aims to do. However, the implementation of the bill must come alongside additional support and significant investment in our workforce if we are to truly work towards ensuring homelessness in Wales is rare, brief and unrepeated.

'Significant changes'

Commenting on the bill, Matt Dicks, national director of CIH Cymru, said: “The proposed bill outlines some significant changes to homelessness legislation in Wales. Its increased focus on preventing homelessness and a duty for the whole public sector to cooperate in preventing homelessness is welcome, with its potential to reduce the number of households experiencing homelessness.

“Whilst the legislation is a key part in the work to end our housing emergency, our workforce will need to be invested in and provided with the right level of resources to implement the legislation and ensure homelessness in Wales can truly be rare, brief and unrepeated."

He added: “This investment must be across political cycles, and the way we achieve this is to enshrine the right to a safe, affordable and sustainable place the call home into Welsh law. 

“That is the mechanism through which we change the paradigm and truly end homelessness in Wales whilst ensuring housing professionals get the tools they need to do their job.”