Siarter Cartrefi

Wales faces a severe housing crisis: insufficient social housing supply, rising homelessness, and unaffordable private rents. The Crown Estate owns significant land assets in Wales that could be used for housing development, but control over these assets remains with the UK-wide Crown Estate Commissioners in London.

Siarter Cartrefi connects the Crown Estate devolution campaign directly to housing justice, arguing that Wales cannot address its housing crisis without control over Crown-owned land within its borders. The campaign has been part of a cross-party coalition calling for devolution of the Crown Estate, alongside Plaid Cymru, elements of Welsh Labour, and other civil society organisations. All 22 Welsh local authorities voted in favour of Crown Estate devolution by June 2025, giving the campaign democratic legitimacy at the local government level. The campaign's strength lies in linking an abstract constitutional question (who controls the Crown Estate?) to a concrete human need (where will people live?), making the case for devolution accessible to audiences who might not otherwise engage with constitutional debates. The Crown Estate (Wales) Bill, introduced by Lord Wigley, passed its report stage in the House of Lords unopposed in July 2025, though the UK Government remains opposed to full devolution.