No change in housing plan despite doubts over Wylfa

Isle of Anglesey council plan to build more than 300 new homes over the next 30 years

Uncertainty over the future of Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant will not halt a rise in council houses on Anglesey, the council says.

The authority previously passed plans to increase its housing stock by 500 properties over the next 30 years.

That decision, in 2015, was based on a potential 1,000 new jobs at the redeveloped nuclear site on the island.

But while work at Wylfa Newydd was suspended in January, the council said it was pressing ahead with extra homes.

"We need to increase our housing stock, its as simple as that," said the council's head of housing services, Ned Michael.

"To start off with, buying in existing homes was a quick way of getting the ball rolling but the appetite and vision from the very start has been to build new homes across the island."

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About two-thirds of the proposed 500 new properties will be newly-built with the remaining third bought in from private ownership.

The council also aims to help transform deteriorating empty houses - a "nuisance for neighbours" - into affordable homes.

"It makes no sense, when there's a general lack of housing to meet demand, for us not to make the most of what we have," said Mr Michael.

However, the authority admits it faces a challenge to provide either one-bed or four-bedroom properties.

"There's a real lack of homes on either end of the scale," Mr Michael told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We have approximately 3,850 homes but only 67 are four-bedroom, which are what larger families are looking for.

"Its important we ensure there are quality homes or we'll lose our young people.

"Its important for both the culture and language that we provide for them while, in a small way at least, also providing work."