WREXHAM AFC's Hollywood takeover is making it harder to find accommodation for ex-offenders, a council housing chief has said.

The news of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney becoming the club's co-chairmen in early 2021 brought unprecedented fame for both the club and the community - but that could be having both a positive and negative impact.

That is according to Tracey Hague, Head of Service (Housing) at Wrexham Council, who stated that the club's success meant that some private landlords were moving from the private rented sector to Airbnb to make more money.

Ms Hague was speaking at the Welsh Affairs Committee's inquiry into prisons in Wales on Wednesday (April 17).

She said: "It’s what I refer to as the Rob and Ryan effect."

Ms Hague added: “We’re finding that a lot of our private landlords are moving away from offering properties in the private renting sector and are now turning them into Airbnb, because they can get more money.

"Therefore, we have seen a huge decrease in the number of private sector accommodation that we can utilise.”

Wednesday's session focused on whether ex-offenders are at a greater risk of homelessness and rough sleeping.

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But despite the 'Rob and Ryan effect' being quoted, similar issues with housing were pointed out in Pembrokeshire and Cardiff.

Stephanie Rogers-Lewis, a Cardiff Council housing boss, said: “Not celebrity influence, but yes in terms of Airbnb’s and we have a huge student population in Cardiff as well.

“And, with the accommodation we have got, it is very difficult to get anything that is affordable.”

Committee chair Stephen Crabb MP said: "Essentially across Wales, as the scale of need has increased, whether that’s specifically relating to prisoners or actually whether it’s across the board for housing generally, the scale of the need has gone up and the availability of stock has gone down in the last five years.”

Deputy leader of Wrexham Council, Cllr David Bithell, says the 'Rob and Ryan' comment may have been take out of context.

He said: "I have been a Councillor for Wrexham County Borough Council since 2004, and a fan of Wrexham AFC for over 40 years. I cannot remember a time when there was more excitement, promise and optimism.

"The success of our football club is intrinsically linked to the success of Wrexham.

"In the past few short years we have gone from being an oftentimes overlooked area of north Wales, to an international tourist destination - welcoming unprecedented amounts of interest and visitors and we’re rising together.

"We’ve all known that Wrexham is special, and now the world is also finding out-this the true Rob and Ryan effect.

"Yesterday a comment was made at The Welsh Affairs Committee that had convened to examine the quality and availability of housing for prison leavers as it continues its inquiry into Prisons in Wales.

"At that committee a comment was made that I believe has been taken out of context and needs to be addressed.

"As a result of welcoming the volume of tourists as we do now, there has been a noticeable shift in businesses and individuals catering for the increasing number of visitors. This is of huge benefit to our local economy, especially the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors.

"Wrexham now faces similar housing issues to other more traditional tourist areas across Wales.

"Housing for Homeless people is a statutory duty on all councils in Wales. It is also law that we must discharge our duty under legislation into the private or social rented sector.

"I hope this statement clarifies the situation and we look forward in anticipation to what the future brings as we work closely with the club on our joint ambitions."