I'm pleased to give a broad welcome to this trial scheme in Wales, and I look forward to receiving the continual reports on its uptake from the sector. I obviously have some questions regarding how it will operate, and I have been in discussions with the sector.

I note that the Residential Landlords Association have some reservations, particularly around the flexibility that landlords will be left with if the scheme runs, say, for five years. Are you thinking a minimum of two up to five, or what sort of range? And also, should there be some form of reasonable break in that contract for exceptional circumstances or if a landlord has to sell a property? So, I think we need to be quite clear on the nature of the obligation. Obviously, tying people into the local authority level spend is important. And for that stability, they then get three, four, five years of guaranteed rent. So, it's a real factor. But also, this is coming in at probably under the market rate in many cases. So, I think we need to be aware of the balance of the contract, but I do accept that it's an appropriate bargain to strike, and can work, as you say, for both sides and be a win-win.

I think similar schemes have been trialled in local authorities in England, so I suspect you could look to some best practice there, but obviously these sorts of schemes have been tested to some extent anyway, and whilst I accept trialling three local authority areas is a way forward, I do hope that the pilot will be a fairly brisk one, so that we can prove the concept and then deepen the partnership between the private residential sector and local government. That collaborative working, I think, needs to go deeper and we've urged you on several occasions to remember the resources that we have in the private sector. It's a much larger sector and, as you indicated, it now appeals to quite a broad range of people. So, I think rather than seeing it as a competitor we need to tap into those resources and see where they can be used.

I also think that local authorities need to be encouraged to do this, and ensure that they're having the sort of policy conversations on things like homelessness and empty housing, for instance, and the role that the private rented sector could offer, and then to remind them that vulnerable groups like ex-offenders, care leavers, and low-income households can be very stable tenants, with—which I thought was vital in what you said—the support mechanisms that are going to go into these schemes. Then, there's a real offer there. I had noted that, for instance, in Bristol, they have a bond scheme to reassure landlords—and landladies, I suppose—and that's linked to inspection and that properties are in a proper state, but that does give some reassurance as well, I'm sure, to landlords and landladies.

But overall, I do hope this is the start of a really good, active, innovative and enterprising partnership between the Residential Landlords Association and Welsh Government and local authorities, because these social problems are the concern of all of us, and I think the private sector has got its part to play where appropriate, and where bound in to reasonable conditions and due rigour. So, broadly, I welcome this and look forward to the reports on the three schemes and I hope that they progress quickly.