Carmarthenshire County Council has secured the largest reduction in housing waiting lists in Wales, from 2018 to present day.

The data showed that the county had reduced the number of households on social housing waiting lists from 4,514 in 2018, to 3,979 in 2022.

Carmarthenshire was one of only two local authorities out of all 22 in Wales which had reduced the waiting lists over this time period, the other being Cardiff Council.

The overall picture in Wales presented a worrying state of affairs, with almost 90,000 households on a waiting list across the country.

Responding to the statistics, Carmarthenshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Deputy Leader, Cllr Linda Evans said: “The picture across Wales in terms of housing is truly sobering.

“In Carmarthenshire, the administration has had a long-term focus on housing, and while I’m very happy that we are making progress on increasing the amount of affordable homes available through various options, there is so much yet to do.

“The reduction of waiting lists from 2018 is positive news, but we as a cabinet, and as a county council, have ambitions to increase local housing capacity further so that we can continue to reduce these waiting lists.”

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Senedd Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price said: “The statistics show that there is a significant job of work to do in Wales on increasing local housing capacity.

“Whilst I am truly grateful to my colleagues at Carmarthenshire County Council for their innovative strategic approach to the housing problem in our communities, there is clearly a need for this to be addressed nationally.

“Carmarthenshire has shown that building council houses, and finding innovative ways to increase the stock as a long-term ambition pays dividends, and we should look to implement this strategy in Wales.

“This is why I am glad that as part of our Co-Operation Agreement in the Senedd, there is a commitment to establishing a national construction company, which should support councils and social landlords to improve the supply of social and affordable housing.”