One in three people in Wales lives in unsafe or unaffordable housing. The pandemic has highlighted these inequalities in the housing sector as lockdowns have led to people in Wales spending prolonged amounts of time at home.

Earlier in 2021, our team was commissioned by Tai Pawb, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Shelter Cymru to explore the social and economic impact of introducing the right to adequate housing in Wales. The project consisted of two phases. The first phase of our research explored the evidence base on the right to adequate housing, including case studies of introducing similar rights to housing and policies in other countries, including cases in Finland, New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, France, Spain and South Africa.

During the second phase of our research study, we carried out a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of progressively introducing the right to adequate housing in Wales. Our findings suggest that introducing the right in Welsh law would generate socio-economic benefits that significantly outweigh the costs. Our research findings were presented in the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, in September 2022.

➥ Read our evidence review here.

➥ Read our cost-benefit analysis here.