Swansea Council Faces £900m Bill to Upgrade Social Housing

Swansea Council faces an estimated £900 million cost to upgrade its 13,800 council homes to meet a new Welsh Government housing standard focused on energy efficiency and decarbonisation. This equates to roughly £65,000 per property, including improvements such as insulation, solar panels, and replacing gas boilers with heat pumps. Deputy Leader Cllr Andrea Lewis emphasized that achieving these standards would be "difficult, if not impossible" without additional Welsh Government funding, despite the government's previous commitment of £256 million to social housing improvements. Swansea has already spent over £500 million to comply with previous Wales-wide housing quality standards. The Welsh Government also announced a £90 million low-interest loan scheme aimed at Registered Social Landlords to support affordable housing development and improvements, helping to address rising construction and borrowing costs. These initiatives collectively aim to ensure social housing is comfortable, affordable to heat, and environmentally sustainable, but significant financial challenges remain for local councils like Swansea.