Worst housing jeopardises Wales's recovery

Wales has the worst housing in Britain, and the oldest in Europe. And it will get worse, jeopardising hopes of economic recovery, without fresh investment.

A report for the Institute of Wales, a Cardiff-based research body, by Malcolm Fisk of Liverpool John Moores University and Dale Hall of the University of Wales, argues that an extra Pounds 63 million investment is needed. The money should be ploughed into social rented housing, which has been cut back in recent years. It also calls for the creation of local housing companies with a mixture of private, local authority and community involvement.