AN MS has called on the Welsh Government to encourage private developers to build more houses in North Wales amid a shortfall in annual targets.

Speaking in the Senedd, Mr Rowlands, Shadow Minister for Local Government, asked what action the Housing Minister Julie James was taking to encourage more developments.

“Your assessment of need for housing in North Wales states that there should be around 1,600 homes built every year in the region for the next 20 years," he said.

“Currently, that development number is around 1,200 homes a year. So, there is quite a significant gap between what is needed and what's being built.

“Private developers are often very successful in meeting the demands of local people and providing affordable housing and many of those private developers are small businesses making a big difference in their local economy.

“We have, though, in recent years seen a steady decrease in the number of dwellings being developed by those private developers.

The Minister said they had a number of issues in the small and medium enterprise house building market around cash flow, pipeline and they were keen to work with them to ensure that providers stayed viable and solid.