Just 19 applications have been received for a flagship council housing programme to get young residents homes in Ceredigion, with the authority now considering rebranding the scheme to bolster uptake.

The Community Housing Scheme was established by the council in 2023 to “address local housing needs by providing financial support primarily through loans to bring properties back into use, improve housing standards, and increase the supply of affordable homes” in the county.

The widely acclaimed scheme helps with mortgage payments and deposits in a bid to tackle a housing crisis in the county caused by rising house prices and stagnant wages.

The scheme was initially funded through 25 per cent of the extra income that Ceredigion council gathered through the introduction of a second homes tax.

In 2024, with the council tax premium for second homes upped to 100 per cent, the council then capped the amount that could be held in the scheme at £2m – using the rest of the income to prop up its general balances amid budget cuts and rising council tax.

With the second homes premium then rising to 150 per cent from last April – the housing scheme easily passed the £2m funding, but a report has revealed that it is now holding more than £2m and has approved just 16 applications since it was established.

A budget report put before Cabinet said that in its first two years the scheme had granted just eight loans totalling £390,000 as of 31 March 2025, with the total in the fund standing at £2.194m.

There have been 19 applications in total since the scheme’s inception – a fresh report prepared for Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee in December said.

A report on the feedback from that scrutiny committee, which will go before members of the Cabinet on Tuesday, 13 January said that take-up of the scheme had been “slow”, with just 16 applications accepted and being processed since 2023.

Greg Jones, Corporate Lead Officer for Porth Cymorth Cynnar, reported that “take up has been slow, and whilst engagement has been wide, the number of applications remains relatively modest (19) in total, with 16 approvals,” the report said.

“Internally, officers collaborate to run the scheme across planning, housing, legal and finance and this collaboration has worked well with each team clear on their role.

“Regular discussion occur and more recently ways to boost interest in the scheme have been considered.

“It was stated that it is important to outline that take up of the scheme being low is not entirely down to the scheme parameters and/or the authority, with external influences a significant barrier.

“In recent years, the housing market in Ceredigion has faced significant constraints driven by a combination of structural and external pressures.”

In 2024, councillors called the capping of using second and holiday home council tax premium for the housing programme “disappointing.”

The report recommends that Cabinet “support a refresh and a relaunch of the Community Housing Scheme, to include further branding considerations.”