RICS congratulates next First Minister of Wales

Vaughan Gething MS has been announced as the next leader of Welsh Labour, and subsequently the next First Minister of Wales following a close leadership election.

The announcement comes following the resignation of Mark Drakeford MS, who has held the post of First Minister since 2018. In that time, RICS have been working closely with Welsh Government Ministers to address some of the biggest challenges facing the Welsh built environment, including large-scale retrofitting on housing, providing solutions and tools to decarbonise the public sector estate, and working to develop a comprehensive building safety strategy.

RICS recently analysed the manifestos of the two leadership candidates, and highlights of the next First Minister’s agenda includes:

Boost innovation in the creation of green social housing including modern and modular construction methods and work with the built environment industry to address skill shortages and new education and training opportunities and set up an Affordable Homes Taskforce to expedite planning backlogs.

• Enhance the work of the Renters Reform (Wales) Act to strengthen tenant rights including no pet clauses, explore a system of rent control that doesn’t reduce supply and introduce leasehold and freehold reform.
• Invest in new active travel, EV, and integrated travel infrastructure, including fare reduction schemes – as well as implementing the recommendations of the Burns Commission along the M4 corridor.
• Support high streets by accelerating the rollout of banking hubs, doubling the number of worker-owned businesses and directing more procurement towards co-operatives and social enterprises.
• Review the Agricultural Advisory Panel to ensure it is truly independent and introduce a living wage for the agriculture sector.

Commenting on the results, Justin Young, Chief Executive Officer of RICS, said:

“RICS congratulates the new First Minister of Wales on his success in the Welsh Labour leadership election and welcomes him to the role of First Minister. We look forward to working with him, his Ministerial team and their departments on a range of crucial issues, including housing, infrastructure investment, and climate change. We would encourage the new First Minister to embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with these in order to bring positive change to the built and natural environment in Wales, building on his commitments in his leadership election manifesto.

“It is essential that the incoming First Minister commits to improving the supply of high-quality, affordable homes across tenures, to ease pressures on social housing services, support renters with ever-increasing rents, and to help those first-time-buyers get on the housing ladder.

“The RICS Residential Market Survey, for instance, points to an ongoing significant gap between demand from tenants and the supply of rental properties coming onto the market from landlords in Wales. According to the survey, landlord instructions have been flat or falling for 17 months, while tenant demand continues to increase. This is not only impacting on the ability of people and families to secure suitable homes, it is also pushing up rents.

“We need the new First Minister to make Wales an attractive place to invest in, have an ambitious vision for sustainable infrastructure, and give confidence to those who have an essential role to play in our built and natural environment including business owners, landlords and farmers.’’