5. What assessment has the First Minister made of the prospects over the next four months for first-time buyers in Monmouthshire? OAQ51388

Providing opportunity for first-time buyers in Monmouthshire, and, indeed, across Wales, has always been one of our key priorities. Home ownership is a significant part of our 20,000 affordable homes target, and Help to Buy—Wales is supporting this with nearly three quarters of new homes purchased through the scheme being first-time buyers.

First Minister, the average Help to Buy house price for first-time buyers in Monmouthshire is £240,000, similar to Gloucestershire across the border. Are you not concerned that, if your Government fails to match England's approach to first-time buyers, some of our young people will leave Wales and buy over the border instead? 

I'm sure they will be attracted by the fact that council tax is substantially lower in Wales than it is in England under the Conservative Government. But he asked the question about stamp duty. We understand, of course, there will be a need to respond to changes to stamp duty policy following the UK Government budget. Now that the UK Government has announced a relief for first-time buyers, the Cabinet Secretary will give consideration to whether changes should be made to land transaction tax.

First Minister, one of the things that first-time buyers in Monmouth share with those in Taff Ely and Pontypridd is the growth of leasehold properties—properties being sold by leasehold creating a whole series of financial issues in respect of ground rent, and in respect of the subsequent reversions or when the periods of years begin to expire. Do you agree with me that the growth of leasehold, for one, is unwelcome within Wales, but secondly, that the Welsh Government should give consideration to barring or abolishing leasehold properties for the future?

There's been a great deal of exploitation of leasehold where leases have come to an end. Of course, there are some areas, as my friend will know, such as apartments and flats, where leasehold tends to be something fairly normal. When it comes to houses, however, Wales has a history, where leaseholds have come to an end in the past, where people have been charged large amounts in order to buy out the land on which their houses actually sit. I think, in the future, it's hugely important that freehold is the tenancy that is normal, as far as housing is concerned. There may be examples, such as community land trusts, where that wouldn't be appropriate, just to make sure that house prices are kept down. But yes, certainly we want to do all that we can to ensure that people are not exploited when leases come to an end, quite often after a period of more than a century.