Over the last quarter century, housing has become increasingly unaffordable for the vast majority of people. This article seeks to address what has caused this situation, and what its effects are on the individual and on the community. It will also consider how unaffordable housing and the lack of housing opportunities for local people affects the Welsh language. The article will then consider the mechanisms that have been adopted both by the National Assembly for Wales and by the Whitehall Government to resolve the inter-related problems of unaffordable housing and local people being unable to afford to buy houses in their local area, and the extent to which these solutions provide answers to this dilemma that are sustainable in the long term. To conclude, suggestions of how to improve the existing frameworks will be proposed, along with more radical approaches to ensure that housing does not become a luxury commodity.
Keywords
Affordable housing, home language, social policy.