Thanks, Minister, for your statement. I don’t want to comment too much on the nature of the landlord registration scheme because that was contained in legislation debated and passed by the last Assembly. However, there is one point that slightly puzzles me, which is regarding the £144 registration charge, which is a flat fee. There are many reluctant landlords who find themselves renting out property owing to a family bereavement or similar circumstances. It does seem odd to me that those landlords have to pay the same amount as those who rent out multiple properties on a professional basis. So, I do wonder if it is the correct approach to have simply one flat fee.

Regarding the operation of the scheme, it is welcome that nearly all of the landlords who attended the training course felt it better equipped them to be landlords, but there are some issues that still need to be addressed. One big issue is that we simply don’t know how many landlords there are in Wales, which of course this registration scheme is designed to address. So, because we don’t know that, we don’t know how many have not yet registered, but the Welsh Government estimates that there may still be some 40,000 people who need to register who haven’t yet done so. Although this is essentially a rough guess, it does seem that there are large numbers involved, so I would ask if there is a sensible case for extending the deadline for registration or for some kind of amnesty period where enforcement or sanctions wouldn’t take effect, which has also been suggested by a couple of the other speakers in this debate. So, I would add my voice to that.

The other issue is the burden on local councils. I would ask the Minister what assessment has been made of the impact of the registration scheme on local authorities and what resources have been allocated to them. That’s all of the points I wish to raise. I do also need to declare a financial interest as I do have one buy-to-let mortgage. Thank you.