1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the availability of housing in the local market in Ynys Môn? OQ56522

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Significant pressure exists on housing availability in Ynys Môn. In addition to existing actions, including Help to Buy, rural housing enablers, the stalled sites fund, for example, we will bring forward new proposals to support local communities to access housing, including communities in Ynys Môn.

Thank you very much, and may I congratulate you on your re-election as First Minister? And I think it's very appropriate that the first question of this new parliamentary term relates to an issue that is such a crisis, and one which people are insisting on having action upon. One clear contribution to the housing crisis is the uncontrolled growth in the second homes market. I see it on a daily basis. I see it in my own village. I see it in coastal villages particularly. I see it in the empty streets and dark windows of the winter, and in the frustration of young people who can't afford a home in their own communities. I see it in the increase of 16 per cent in the cost of property in Anglesey. And things are getting worse every day. And I would differentiate clearly between second home ownership and tourism. Indigenous tourism, locally owned, is very important, but an uncontrolled second housing market doesn't help at all. 

Yes, we need better jobs with higher salaries. Yes, we need to build far more truly affordable homes for rent and to buy, but your Government in this parliamentary term has to take urgent action, using every planning and taxation tool available in order to bring some sort of control to the housing market, and to provide some hope and some chance for people in our communities. I and others have been asking for action for many years. May I ask you, at the very beginning of this term, to give a full and clear commitment, or it will be too late?

Well, Llywydd, thank you very much to Rhun ap Iorwerth for that question. The Member will know that this issue of second homes is an issue on which I have offered to work on a cross-party basis. I wrote to the leader of Plaid Cymru last week, confirming that the Government is ready to consider a number of issues in that way, and I look forward to having that conversation that we will have before the end of this afternoon.

I've seen the Plaid Cymru five-point plan, and I'm sure that there are ideas in that plan that we can work on together. And I agree with what Rhun ap Iorwerth said. We do need to use a number of the tools that we have with regard to taxation, planning, and some others, to draw them together to try to make a difference in the situation that he has outlined this afternoon, and to do it, if we can, in collaboration. 

Thank you, First Minister, for your responses so far to the important points raised by Rhun. Certainly, there are some pressures that have been added to the housing market due to second home ownership, but, perhaps at a risk of being seen to be fiddling while Rome is burning if that becomes the primary focus in a way to support this important area of work, surely the most important thing to support this would actually be to see more homes being built. So, for example, your own Government's assessment of need in north Wales says that 1,600 homes should be built every year for the next 20 years. At the moment, that pace is only 1,200 homes a year. So, clearly, there's an issue there in the environment for investment to see homes being built. So, what will you be looking to do to improve that environment, to see more investment, more homes to be built, and therefore more people having access to those properties?

Well, Llywydd, I don't disagree that there is a wider context within which Rhun ap Iorwerth's question has to be regarded. But he was asking very specifically about those sets of circumstances where second home ownership risks driving out of those local communities people who are priced out of being able to buy properties because there are people from further afield who have deeper pockets that they are able to apply. So, while there is a wider context, that wasn't the focus of the question put to me.

On the wider question about building more homes, this Government is committed to building 20,000 low-carbon homes for social renting purposes. What we will not be doing, Llywydd, is we will not be tearing up the protections that the planning system offers to individuals and local communities, as is proposed by his party in England. Those are important protections and we will want to see them continued here in Wales. So, while we build more houses, which are necessary in the way that the Welsh Government's calculations have set out, we do it in a way that properly balances the needs for new housing against the protections that local communities properly have, to make sure that their futures too can be safeguarded.

I know the housing situation is difficult for residents in Ynys Môn. It has been clear to me through e-mails that residents need more affordable housing—so, in a similar vein. First Minister, I commend the Welsh Government for reaching its ambitious 20,000 affordable homes target—that was just last term—and committing to building a further 20,000 low-carbon homes this term. The Welsh Labour Government has also provided transformative funding for social houses to local authorities, such as Flintshire, where I am a member. And we are looking to build 500 affordable homes in Flintshire, allowing them to build affordable homes while creating jobs and apprenticeships for local people—so, it's also creating jobs as well. Will the First Minister outline the plans that his new Welsh Labour Government has for home building, through local authorities, to help address housing shortages in these areas where people are struggling to afford a home? Thank you.

Llywydd, can I congratulate the Member on her election to the Chamber, and on this her first contribution to our debates, and an important contribution it was too? Because our ambition to build 20,000 homes for social renting depends upon a new capacity for our local authority colleagues to build housing for rent in those communities, where, far too often, those stocks have been diminished by policies promoted by other parties. And there are ambitious plans in a number of parts of Wales for local authorities to play their part. And this Government will certainly, in funding, but also in the partnerships that we create, through the Welsh Local Government Association and others, seek to maximise the contribution that local authorities in all parts of Wales can make to making sure that there are affordable homes for rent for those local populations—people who see their futures in those communities and want to know that they have housing that they can depend upon, that will be there for the long term and will allow them to play the part that they want to play in building futures for themselves and for their wider communities.