Wales faces a housing crisis, with almost 140,000 people on social housing waiting lists and more than 11,000 trapped in temporary homes, the Senedd has heard.

Mark Isherwood, the Tories’ shadow housing secretary, accused the Welsh Government of slashing funding since 1999, ignoring warnings and setting a supply crisis in motion.

He said the number of new homes completed by social landlords in Wales fell from an average of more than 2,600 a year to 785 between 1997 and 2010.

Mr Isherwood, who chairs the Senedd’s public accounts committee, said Welsh ministers set only one housing target this term – to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes by 2026.

But he warned: “Only 3,120 new homes were completed in Wales by social landlords in the first three years of this Senedd term, well short of the 20,000 Welsh Government target.”

In a statement on 1 October, Jayne Bryant said the Welsh Government has allocated more than £1.4bn to housing supply since the start of the Senedd term in 2021.

Wales’ housing secretary told the Senedd that “ministers set a deliberately challenging and ambitious target” and a new affordable homes task force will be set up shortly.