The Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill aims to provide the necessary legal basis for the Welsh Government’s plan to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated.
It widens who can access homelessness services, facilitates earlier prevention, and gives certain public bodies responsibilities for addressing homelessness.
The Local Government and Housing Committee held Stage 2 proceedings on 11 December 2025. This article summarises what happened at Stage 2 and how the Bill was amended. It also highlights some areas that might come forward at Stage 3.
For more background on the Bill see our Bill resource page and our article on the Stage 1 debate.
How did the Bill change at Stage 2?
Qualifying persons for social housing
One major change is the removal of section 35, in an amendment tabled by Siân Gwenllian MS.
This section proposed to give local housing authorities the discretion to decide which classes of person are or are not “qualifying persons” for social housing in their area.
This was intended to manage waiting list numbers by allowing local authorities to exclude applicants with “no housing need”. But during Stage 1, witnesses including Shelter Cymru and the Bevan Foundation warned it could create inconsistency and lead to discrimination against some groups.
The Local Government and Housing Committee’s Stage 1 report said:
we are very concerned that the provision of this discretionary power will move us away from the universal idea that anyone can apply for social housing.
At Stage 2, the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government Jayne Bryant MS said that although she felt that the Bill as introduced had sufficient safeguards, she was prepared to listen to these concerns, and therefore supported the amendment. A replacement section 35 was agreed.
Reviewing impacts
Another change is the introduction of duties on Welsh Ministers to review and report on the Act’s implementation and impacts.
These amendments were tabled by the Cabinet Secretary in response to recommendations by the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Local Government and Housing Committee, both of which had emphasised the importance of monitoring and reporting.
The amendments require Welsh Ministers to review the operation and effect of the Act, and publish a report within four years of the Act coming fully into force. They also introduce a rolling requirement for progress reports, with a report required by 31 December 2028, a further report by 31 December 2029, and then every two years until the Act is fully commenced.
The amendments were agreed. The Cabinet Secretary said:
This rolling approach provides the Senedd with a rigorous mechanism by which to scrutinise commencement and ensure efficient implementation of the legislation.
The “ask and act” duty
The Bill proposes to extend legal duties to specified public bodies to “ask and act”, that is, to identify people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and refer them for support.
Although the Bill applies the duty to a long list of public bodies, during Stage 1 many witnesses raised concerns that certain public bodies are not included on the list despite being well placed to identify homelessness risk.
Joel James MS tabled amendments to include primary healthcare and education services. The Cabinet Secretary said that although she was sympathetic,
this is not the right approach in meeting our policy intention, or it does not align with broader sector agreements.
The amendments were rejected. Siân Gwenllian MS withdrew her amendment to include police forces in Wales.
The Cabinet Secretary tabled amendments to respond to concerns raised by the UK Government. These refine the wording enabling Welsh Ministers to impose “ask and act” on additional reserved authorities. They also adjust the duty on JobCentre Plus offices to bring it in line with the equivalent duty in legislation for England. These amendments were agreed.
Co-operation between social landlords and local authorities
Section 33 introduces a duty on social landlords to comply with a local authority’s request to make an offer of suitable accommodation to an applicant, unless there is good reason not to. The Bill as introduced gave a discretionary power to Welsh Ministers to issue guidance on this matter.
Having promised the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee that this power would be turned into a duty, the Cabinet Secretary tabled amendments to that effect, which were agreed. Other amendments, which sought to place duties on local authorities to share information with social landlords about applicants, were rejected.
Common Housing Registers (CHRs)
The Bill requires all local authorities to keep a CHR, which all but three authorities in Wales already do. Several witnesses during Stage 1, including barrister Crash Wigley and Community Housing Cymru, said the Bill didn’t allow the necessary flexibility for some allocations to take place outside the CHR, for example for private or intermediate rented accommodation. The Cabinet Secretary agreed to table amendments at Stage 2 to rectify this. Those amendments were agreed.
Duty to help to retain accommodation
Section 18 of the Bill places a duty on local authorities to provide support to applicants whom they have assisted into accommodation, if they consider that the applicant could be at risk of repeat homelessness without those support services in place.
The Bill brings this duty to an end after 12 months of help being provided. During Stage 1, some witnesses including Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick and support provider umbrella body Cymorth Cymru called for more flexibility for applicants who may need support for a longer period.
Amendments to achieve this aim were brought forward by Joel James MS, Siân Gwenllian MS and the Cabinet Secretary. Jayne Bryant MS said that the Welsh Government preferred its own formulation, providing a power for local authorities to provide support after the duty has ended, although she remained ”open to further discussions with partners during Stage 3 to assess whether anything else might be possible”. The Cabinet Secretary’s amendments were agreed.
What might come forward at Stage 3?
The Cabinet Secretary agreed to hold further discussions with Members on some other amendments that were either not agreed or withdrawn:
- A requirement to publish data on CHRs, to improve the data picture on social housing waiting lists
- Clarification that “ask and act” duties don’t interfere with a public body’s rights to secure possession of accommodation
- A requirement to publish guidelines on rent guarantors, in line with a policy ambition in the White Paper on housing adequacy and fair rents, published in October 2024.
Next steps
Stage 3 proceedings will take place in Plenary, giving Members another opportunity to amend the Bill. The date will be published in due course.
Article by Jennie Bibbings, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
