5. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:42 pm on 29 April 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 5:42, 29 April 2020

Thank you for that, Joyce, and you're absolutely right: we have worked very hard with Rent Smart Wales, and, actually, as I frequently say, the vast majority of our landlords are good landlords and we're very glad to have them working with us in the sector, and to be fair, as I said earlier, in response to I think it was Delyth, we work very well with them and with the representative bodies as well, and they've been very helpful to us.

We are looking at ways—we've just issued some guidance that affects landlords, agent representative bodies, and tenancy management services to try and assist them to find the right support, and we are working with the sector to make sure it's there. They are reliant on the business support that's out there, and many of them will not meet the thresholds for some of that, so they don't pay VAT, for example, and so on. So, we are working with the sector to understand what the risk is to the sector and to see what we can put in place to ensure that anybody at risk of financial hardship is supported in some way.

Most of the work we have been doing is for tenants, because they're more badly impacted, but you're quite right to highlight that some landlords are reliant on their rent, and if their tenant is unable to pay it, they are themselves in serious difficulty. We are working hard to see what we can put in place to protect the sector, because as you've heard me say in numerous previous appearances in Plenary, we value our private rented sector and we very much want to work with them to make it a sector of choice for the tenants in Wales.