Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:39 pm on 10 March 2021.
Diolch, Llywydd. In opening, Minister, I'd actually like to echo what Laura has said. It's been a pleasure to shadow you in this post and to find many areas, I think, of accord. Obviously, we won't have agreed on everything, but I do extend my thanks as well.
Turning to the questions I have, the additional protections for tenants during COVID—the ban on evictions and bailiffs going into people's homes—are due to end at the end of this month, and the next review point when you could extend those protections further falls tomorrow. There are so many aspects of life that haven't yet opened up, and the threat of homelessness still hangs so heavily over tenants' heads. All of the incremental postponements of eviction have, in fact, I think, prolonged anxiety for many tenants, because they don't have an extended period of being able to feel secure. I know you've said in a letter to the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee that you weren't minded to review this until closer to the end of the month, but I would ask whether you would consider, tomorrow, committing to extending those protections for tenants, so that we don't see mass evictions happening when we're still in the midst of a pandemic, but mainly to put their minds at ease.