Thank you very much for those comments and questions and for your recognition right at the start of your contribution that, really, there is a public need for this legislation, which has been acknowledged across the UK, and certainly a public need to increase the transparency within the sector and to allow people to move into the sector and between different properties within the sector as well, because currently the fees are a barrier to doing that.

You also recognised how the private rented sector is an increasingly important part of the housing landscape here in Wales, mentioning that the size of the sector has doubled since the year 2000, representing now 15 per cent of the housing market here in Wales, and we recognise that that is going to become increasingly important as the years move on as well. So, it's really important that we do continue the work that we've begun through our renting homes Act and other pieces of legislation and policy to ensure that the sector is an attractive one, that it's accessible and that it is fair and transparent. And this piece of legislation very much fits into the kind of approach that we've been trying to take thus far. You also gave some examples of the kinds of scales of fees that people might be required to pay in advance of accessing housing. For a three-bedroomed house in Cardiff, it's over £1,000 upfront that people would have to secure, which is a huge amount of money. It could be extremely prohibitive for large numbers of families to be able to come up with funding like that in the first instance.

So, this public need is recognised UK-wide, and we are looking really carefully at the situation in Scotland, which has passed legislation twice on this issue, as you say: once, in the first instance, which wasn't effective and, secondly, back in 2012, to tighten the rules and make it a much more stringent and tighter piece of legislation. It is a fact that, following the introduction of the legislation in Scotland, there was an increase in the level of rent that people paid. I know that there was also a scrutiny committee in Westminster that looked specifically at that and couldn't find conclusive evidence that the legislation was directly responsible for the increase in fees, but, nonetheless, it is something that we are very alive to—the fact that there could potentially be an increase in the level of rent, I should say, rather than fees, as a consequence of this legislation. However, equally, in our consultation, we understand that people recognise that there could be an increase in rent, but, actually, a small increase in rent would be more palatable to them in order to be able to plan their household budgets and so on, so it is something that we are alive to and something I know committees will be taking a close interest in.

I have had a discussion today, in fact, with the RLA about their particular concerns regarding this legislation. Clearly, they come from a strong viewpoint of representing their membership and wouldn't want to see landlords disadvantaged by this piece of legislation. It is likely that landlords' fees would be increased; that's certainly something we recognise within our regulatory impact assessment as a result of letting agents looking to recoup money from elsewhere. But, also, landlords have significant power in the sense that they can usually shop around to find a letting agent who they feel will best represent them and do so in a way that provides them with value for money. I know the RLA have also put forward other schemes such as—or other suggested schemes—an insurance-type scheme, for example. I think whichever path we take forward—and our proposed path, of course, is within the Bill—it has to be one that doesn't disadvantage people who are on low incomes, because that's precisely what we're trying to avoid.

You mentioned the the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and that, again, is one of the Residential Landlord Association's proposals in the paperwork that they've submitted with regard to this Bill. The Consumer Rights Act wouldn't be able to deliver what we believe that we need in order to make the private rented sector affordable and accessible, because transparency is one thing, but it doesn't necessarily equal fairness.

Charges that contract holders face are a significant barrier to many tenants, and the 2015 Act wouldn't be able to address the existence of large, upfront fees or renewal fees, which our legislation seeks to address as well. That said, obviously, I really do welcome the engagement that we've had from the RLA, and all of the other representative bodies in the process of getting this far with the Bill, and their constructive comments that they've made to our consultation process. I'm sure that that kind of engagement will continue as we move through the scrutiny process.