I welcome this legislation as it will undoubtedly make it easier for social landlords—registered social landlords, such as United Welsh, which is based in my constituency—to deliver on the Welsh Government’s affordable housing target. If there’s one thing we need in Wales and in my constituency and in the northern Valleys and in appropriate places, its affordable housing. I also, it’s worth noting, met recently with the Caerphilly private landlords forum, and they too are keen to see small-scale private dwellings being available and affordable. They found that the UK Government’s policy on tax relief and universal credit has both damaged the availability of them to provide affordable housing, and has actually harmed the affordable housing stock to the detriment of Valleys communities.

Other issues addressed in that meeting were the need for smaller affordable home units of one or two bedrooms. These are the houses that are needed in the communities that I represent, and I’ve raised, in this Chamber in particular, the difference between housing need, where there are people who may not be able to get onto the housing ladder or even afford homes, and housing demand. Those in need often don’t even reach recognition on the demand curve. The focus of planning policy on the latter as opposed to the former has, in my view, resulted in the unsustainable growth of executive housing estates in the Caerphilly basin, built on lucrative greenfield sites, and unaffordable to, dare I say, the majority of my constituents. And what the Cabinet Secretary is trying to do with this policy, with this legislation, is redress that balance, and make available more affordable housing to the people who live in the north of my constituency and need it most. Would the Cabinet Secretary therefore agree that it’s only when we address this real issue of housing need that we can be closer to creating a more sustainable and equitable system that provides affordable homes to those who need them most, particularly those in the north of my constituency?