The 2026 Senedd elections have left us with a political landscape that is both more diverse and more fragmented than perhaps any of us anticipated. As leaders and stakeholders within the housing and equality sectors, we find ourselves at a crossroads. It is tempting to focus on the immediate shifts in the halls of power, but our deeper responsibility lies in interpreting the signal being sent by communities across Wales: a profound desire for a decent life, security and a sense of belonging in an increasingly uncertain world.
As we enter this new Senedd term, there is an opportunity to move beyond the immediate election period and focus on the long-term foundations of a fairer, healthier and more resilient Wales. Our shared goal is to address both the root causes of the anxiety many people feel and the realities they face. If left unaddressed, these pressures risk eroding the social cohesion we have worked so hard to build. At the heart of this stability is a single, foundational factor: the home.
Holding Ambition and Reality Together
In discussing these ambitions, it is important to start with the reality on the ground. People’s experiences of housing inequality are what give this work its urgency and purpose. We also need to recognise the immense, compounding pressures currently facing the sector. Funding and capacity are stretched, need is becoming more complex, and teams are carrying the emotional and practical cost of delivering services in a more contested environment.
At the same time, the sector continues to show real resilience, care and leadership. In a climate where public narratives can feel more polarised, there remains a strong shared focus on equality, dignity and good housing outcomes.
I think this commitment endures because the sector recognises that equality is not another demand on already stretched organisations. It is part of the everyday work of providing homes, supporting people, making decisions, managing risk and building trust.
Damp and mould is a clear example. Equality does not sit in opposition to fixing damp and mould; it helps us understand the issue properly and respond fairly. It means being alert to the risk that some concerns may be dismissed or deprioritised because of assumptions about who is “deserving” of help or because families are not listened to with the seriousness they deserve. The death of Awaab Ishak was a devastating reminder of what can happen when this is the case. It also means recognising that the same housing conditions can have very different consequences for different people. For someone with a serious respiratory condition or impairment, a damp home may create immediate and severe harm. That is why equality belongs at the centre of good housing practice, not at the margins.
The Downward Escalator
For many in Wales, recent years have felt like trying to walk up an escalator that is moving downwards. A secure home, good health, steady income and reliable support can all help people move forward. But when those things are missing, people can be working incredibly hard and still feel they are being pulled back.
For others, the problem is even more fundamental: the escalator was never designed with them in mind or they are blocked from getting on it at all.
Accessible housing is one example. An older person in a home they can no longer move around safely or a disabled person waiting years for an adapted property, is not short of resilience. The home itself is making daily life harder.
We see the same pattern elsewhere: children leaving care without the right housing and support; lone parents pushed further into poverty by housing costs; ethnic minority families living in severely overcrowded homes; people in temporary accommodation trying to build stability in deeply unstable circumstances.
The detail differs but the pattern is familiar: housing inequality makes people work harder just to stand still. A fairer housing system helps turn the escalator around. We know that our job isn’t just to support people to “walk faster”; it’s to fix the machinery of the escalator and make sure everyone can access it.
A Home Is the Foundation for Everything Else
Housing does not exist in a vacuum. It is the prerequisite for almost every other positive outcome we seek as a nation. When we frame housing equality as our foundational mission, we recognise that a secure home is actually a front-line health and economic intervention.
The evidence remains a powerful tool for this argument. Poor quality housing currently costs the Welsh NHS approximately £95 million every year in preventable treatments. When we look at the wider economy, the cost of housing inequality reaches an estimated £1 billion annually in lost productivity and social intervention by conservative estimates.
This is about more than building homes: a cold, damp or insecure home can shape a child’s health, education and confidence long before any other service has a chance to help. High-cost, poor-quality housing also affects people’s ability to work, save, participate and plan for the future – whether that means a woman rebuilding her life after domestic abuse or a migrant trying to build stability, progress at work and contribute to their community. Housing equality is the lever that allows every other social investment to succeed.
From Housing Targets to Good Homes
As we look toward the next four years, there will be a natural focus on delivery targets and housing starts. While building at scale is a logistical necessity, we have the chance to aim for a more enduring legacy. Success is arguably better measured when it moves away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach and toward the lived experience of the resident.
This is why the conversation around the Right to Adequate Housing is so vital. It moves us toward a framework where success is measured by whether the housing we provide is truly available, affordable, accessible, culturally appropriate and secure. Placing equality at the core of housing policy, investment and delivery would help ensure that decisions reflect the diversity of people’s lives and needs – from LGBTQ+ young people facing homelessness to ethnic minority households who remain disproportionately likely to experience housing insecurity.
Taking the Fear out of the Conversation
The wider context also matters. Public conversations are more polarised, particularly when people are worried about housing, money, services and the future.
Across the UK and Europe, we have seen how anxiety about scarce resources can harden into division. In Wales, there is an opportunity to take some of the fear out of the conversation by keeping the focus on evidence, lived experience and the shared need for safe, suitable and affordable homes.
Housing equality is not a zero-sum game. When we build communities that are accessible and inclusive, we are not taking away from one group to give to another. We are contributing to what others have described as an architecture of belonging: the conditions that help people feel safe, rooted and part of the places they live.
When people have the security of a good home, they have more space to participate, connect and look ahead. A stable home does not solve every social or economic pressure, but it gives people firmer ground beneath their feet. By ensuring that everyone has a stake in their community, starting with a front door they can call their own, we help build a Wales where belonging is real, not just promised and naturally more resistant to the politics of division.
Equality at the Core
As we move forward, Tai Pawb will continue to provide the evidence, insight and support that helps the sector hold equality at the centre of housing.
That means being clear about what we stand for and inviting others across housing and public life to hold that clarity with us. Exclusion and inequality have no place in a modern Wales. A good home should not depend on someone’s age, race, disability, income, language, family situation, migration status, sexuality, gender, faith, or whether their needs are simple enough to fit neatly into existing systems.
It also means being practical. Equality is not only about statements of principle. It is about whether homes are built in the right places, whether adaptations happen quickly enough, whether damp and mould is taken seriously, whether temporary accommodation is dignified, whether data is used well, whether people are listened to, and whether services work for those most likely to be failed by them.
This work cannot sit with one organisation, one team or one part of the housing system. It needs shared leadership across the government, housing, homelessness, local government, health, social care, equality and above all – communities. Tai Pawb will continue to play our part: sometimes leading, sometimes supporting, sometimes convening and sometimes challenging.
The next Senedd term gives Wales a chance to think differently about housing: not only as supply, infrastructure or service delivery, but as the foundation of people’s lives. If we get that right, we do more than build homes. We help turn the escalator around, so that people are not held back by the place they live, but supported to live with security, dignity and possibility.