Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:41 pm on 19 January 2021.
Am I open? Yes. We will support these regulations to prevent the enforcement of evictions in Wales except in the most serious circumstances as a public health response to transmission of the COVID-19 virus, extending the suspension on eviction enforcement to 31 March. However, unlike in England, there's no exemption to the ban for those with over six months of arrears, which is relevant, particularly in the context of the previous contribution by a Member. The Minister may cite the tenancy saver loan scheme as a reason for not having that in Wales. However, as the Minister confirmed to me in her answer to my written questions about the tenancy saver loan scheme on 22 December, take-up of these loans is low and, although payment is made directly to a landlord on behalf of the applicant via credit union, only 22 loans had been approved at that point, plus some 800 expressions of interest received from tenants, representing less than half of 1 per cent of private rented sector households in Wales. Further, these loans are targeted at private sector tenants who weren't in significant rent arrears before March and aren't on benefits.
The majority of residential landlords in Wales have only one or two properties and they're relying on the income generated from these to fund both overheads and their own living expenses. I therefore urge the Minister to respond to calls for the Welsh Government to either massively expand knowledge and take-up of the loan, and maybe even expand eligibility, or to admit that, because there is little perceived need to pay off arrears in Wales, the exemption in England should be allowed here too, because those in arrears who are taking advantage of a loan are small in number and there is currently therefore little to help landlords and tenants sustain a tenancy, as opposed to imposition on the landlord of a tenancy that is significantly in arrears. I therefore also call on the Minister to invest in much more effective consultation with the sector to come up with a better scheme, including, for example, the exemption in England. Diolch.