At 11 am on Saturday the 24th of January, a flat in the Caernarfon’s Victoria Dock development was occupied by members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg. This symbolic act is part of the campaign for the future of the Welsh-speaking communities of Wales, and hopes to focus attention on establishing the Right to Rent as part of the answer to the crisis that is facing those communities. Cymdeithas yr Iaith calls on the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities to work together in order to ensure an increase in the number of homes available for rent by local people.

Osian Jones, Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s North Wales organiser said,“This flat in Victoria Dock is a perfect example of property that could have been developed as affordable rented housing for local people, to allow them to stay in Caernarfon. We are symbolically renting this property for today.”Osian Jones added,“Welsh-speaking communities across Wales face a crisis at present, and it is essential that housing and planning policies are drawn up with the objective of enabling young people to stay in their communities. In the present economic climate, there is a need to increase the stock of rented accommodation available, including accommodation suitable for individuals and families. With finance from the Welsh Assembly Government, transferring properties into rented accommodation and social housing, starting with the high number of empty homes, should be a priority. Local authorities should base their planning policy on assessments of the actual local need for housing.”Hywel Griffiths, chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s communities group, added,“The fact that 60,000 people in North Wales are waiting for council houses shows the dire need for rented accommodation. In communities where the housing market has for decades been out of the reach of local people, and in a period when it is increasingly difficult to access the market due to the credit crunch, rented accommodation is the only realistic option. Additionally, there is a need to ensure a fair formula which gives local people priority on this accommodation, in order to bring the housing market slowly but surely back into local control. Representatives in local authorities, the Welsh Assembly Government and Westminster must realise that if the Welsh language is to survive as a language of the community, a significant change in mentality is needed.Hywel Griffiths and Menna Machreth, Cymdeithas yr Iaith chair, will present these arguments at the Supporting Welsh-language Communities in Rural Wales Conference, organised by the Welsh Language Board, on Monday 26th of January at the Park Plaza hotel in Cardiff.Lluniau: Rhys Llwyd ac Elinor Gray-Williams