Rhodri praises Valleys growth

First Minister Rhodri Morgan praised the beauty of the Valleys and said that we were starting to see a normalisation of the housing market in the Valleys when I raised the first-time buyers issue in the Assembly on Tuesday. I said:

Are you aware that, two weeks ago, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced that Ferndale and Blaenrhondda in my constituency are two of the 20 most desirable places in the United Kingdom for first-time buyers. While first-time buyers are welcome, property speculators are not welcome. Do you agree that this is an opportunity to overcome the old stereotypes of the Valleys, and instead talk rather more about their opportunities and the beauty of their environment?

In response, Rhodri said:

The combination of the beauty of the environment and the ability to have local jobs or to commute to jobs on the M4 belt, creates an attractive package to regenerate and revitalise the housing market in the Valleys, which has not been as it should be. It has not operated normally since the commencement of the long decline of the coal industry some 70 or 80 years ago. It has been too dominated by the sale of 100-year-old properties without enough new properties, although this is beginning to change, which I am pleased to see. We need to see the normalisation of the housing market in the Valleys, and the first sign of it is the nomination of Valleys towns as the best option for first-time buyers.