MORE VERSUS BETTER: exploring the tension between quality and quantity in housing, and the opportunities offered by alternative approaches.

This paper translates the seven goals of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act into an agenda for housing. It recaps the findings of the recent More | Better report (2017), which concluded that there is no single silver bullet to ‘solve’ the housing crisis in Wales, but that higher quality homes could be achieved through a combination of innovative delivery pathways and construction techniques, along with a broad range of other benefits. However, the depressed Welsh housing market creates a particular tension between the need for more housing and drivers for better homes. The paper identifies ways in which approaches that focus on ‘better’ might also deliver ‘more’ in economically challenging areas, both within Wales and more widely. There then follows a discussion of the catalysts for such a ‘step change’ in housing quality and quantity. The paper concludes with an account of the next steps that are currently being taken in Wales, through the actions of the Innovative Housing Programme.