Group 1. Removal of existing suspension of the right to buy (Amendments 5, 14, 9, 11, 1, 3)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:15 pm on 28 November 2017.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 5:15, 28 November 2017

Well, we've not lost housing stock, have we? The tenancy has changed, obviously, and that's significant. There's a whole debate to be had about that, but to somehow say we've lost 150,000 homes in Wales is really a rather silly argument.

In other amendments that I'm proposing, I will return to this issue of whether sensible reform could be suggested, and a different balance. And should we ever be in a position to re-establish the right to buy, I'm sure that there would be things we would do differently. I think, sometimes, there have been one or two outlying advocates of right to buy that have not emphasised the need for social housing enough, because right to buy is not for everyone; it's not for most people who are in the social sector and, you know, I don't think conceding that reduces the argument that I'm making this afternoon.

I'm grateful to Angela, who passionately emphasised the fairness issue, and then Mark, who, of course, to those of us who have served since Mark's election first in 2003, will know what a champion of house building he's been and the fact that we need to increase the supply, which is definitely the basis of all this.

But let's make this Bill fairer. I urge Members to support amendment 5.