More than 1,000 buildings lie empty and uninhabited in Ceredigion, figures have revealed, as a consultation is launched to find out if enough is being done across Wales to return buildings to use.

Figures from the National Assembly’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee show that there are around 27,000 long-term empty private properties in Wales and around 1,400 long-term empty properties in the social housing sector.

In Ceredigion, 1,019 buildings were empty and unused at the end of 2017, with just 21 being brought back into use in 2018.

The Assembly committee said it has launched the consultation “to explore if enough is being done to unlock potential for the benefit of the community”.

John Griffiths AM, chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, said: “Lack of affordable housing has become an urgent issue.

“Meanwhile thousands of buildings remain empty across Wales with some falling in to a serious state of disrepair.

“We want to find out the extent to which empty properties impact on the supply of affordable housing in Wales.

“We want to know the challenges faced by local authorities, and to what extent they have sufficient legislative powers to deal with the problem.

“We also want to see examples of best practice in turning empty properties into affordable, energy efficient homes, to see if it can be replicated elsewhere.”

Ceredigion County Council has introduced a database to keep track of unused buildings, with specific funding projects being set up in the county’s major towns to enable buildings to be brought back into use.

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