9. 8. The General Principles of the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:44 pm on 18 July 2017.

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Photo of Neil McEvoy Neil McEvoy Plaid Cymru 6:44, 18 July 2017

Okay. I think, really, this is more of a PR stunt than anything else. I’m yet to hear of a valid response to, if a house is sold and the money is put back into the system and replaces the stock, what is wrong with that? I’ve not really heard an answer to that, because, I think, across the Chamber here, nobody agrees with reducing the social housing stock in Wales. One thing we’re all missing, also, is that there are thousands of long-term empty properties that should be renovated. We should be employing local builders to renovate those properties and house people quickly.

In terms of solutions, I think most public bodies in Wales are short on capital, but there are huge pension funds in every local authority, which should be harnessed for capital investment, with a scheme to provide social housing for rent and also, if people can afford it, to be bought. I think that’s a very valid proposal and would finance a hell of a lot of house building. Because, if you look at the private sector, and people investing pension funds, one area they will always invest in is housing. The asset accrues value and also there’s almost an immediate rate of return on the property.

So, I think, to come back to what I said earlier, what disturbs me about this is that—of course, I’m bound by the whip today, but what disturbs me about this is that there are people sat in this Chamber who don’t own one property, they’ve not got an interest in two, some have an interest in three, and they’re telling working-class people on our estates that they cannot be allowed to own their own property. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy.