Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. We live in an age of crises, and these crises are interlinked. There is an environmental and climate change crisis, which we've already heard about today; there is a public health crisis and there is an economic crisis.

Now, why am I talking about these other crises in a debate on the housing crisis? Well, because housing is a common factor that applies to all of these crises, as well as some others. Consider the climate change crisis. About 14 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the UK come from the housing stock, and Wales has the oldest housing stock in Europe, which is less energy efficient and needs more maintenance.

In terms of the current COVID crisis, we can now make a direct and indirect link between the impact of COVID on some victims and the quality of their housing. Or, if we look at the economic crisis, more wealth is being accumulated in the hands of a small number of people, who are buying larger numbers of properties, while the poor become poorer and homelessness is increasing. Yes, the housing crisis is cross-departmental. But, in starting to solve it, we can achieve a better quality of life for tens of thousands of people.

Of course, there was a housing crisis before the coronavirus, but the pandemic has exacerbated it by highlighting the extent to which housing uncertainty has a disproportionate impact on our young, the most vulnerable and people on low incomes. There is no denying now that our society has a perverse relationship with property. Property that should be seen as a dwelling is now seen as a financial investment for personal economic benefit, not as an integral part of life—the right to a roof over one's head and the right to live at home.

Now, a central part of the debate on the housing crisis is affordability. Housing is now unaffordable for most people in every part of Wales, and I'm sure we'll hear more about that from my colleague, Peredur Owen Griffiths.

Some say that it is more jobs that are needed. Yes, of course, spreading wealth and jobs across Wales is part of the solution, but it is not the solution in itself, because, as things stand, and without far-reaching intervention, wages would need to double or house values would need to halve in order to bring balance back to the market. In simple terms, we need to intervene and bring control to the market in order to provide a fair chance for all to have a home, because the market is working against too many of our people in Wales.

Now, that last sentence will concern Members on the Conservative benches, because they believe in the power of the market—it's a fundamental part of their ideology as a party. But it is this lack of intervention, these laissez-faire policies, that have let our communities down time and time again. Their answer is to build more homes, but that is not a comprehensive solution to the problem either. This marriage between the free market and capitalism means that large luxury homes are built by developers, because that's where the profit is, although there is a huge demand for small bungalows or starter homes with one or two bedrooms.