Diolch. I stand to move the amendment, tabled in the name of my colleague Darren Millar MS.

Now, a great test as to the ability of this Senedd and the Welsh Government to change people's lives for the better across Wales is the need to get a grip on the current housing crisis. Wales has seen the biggest house price growth in the UK, up by an average of 11 per cent in the past year. Offers are being made now before viewings taken, and we all know that many locals are simply unable to rent or buy homes in their own community. A key factor in this, of course—despite what my colleague over in Plaid Cymru said—is the need for new housing supply. It is estimated that north Wales needs as many as 1,400 additional homes annually over the next five years, but the latest data shows that only 1,284 were actually delivered. Mid and south-west Wales need as many as 2,000, yet are only achieving around 1,300 annually. And whilst south-east Wales could require almost 5,000 annually, the latest rate of delivery is about just over 3,100. So, the evidence points to a new house building shortfall across this nation.

We need to create a more attractive environment for builders to invest here, but, in doing so, we need to respect communities and democracy by ensuring that all sites allocated in LDPs are actually built on before any contingency or other locations are considered for planning applications. Another immediate step we can take is to build social housing in communities where the crisis is at its worst, and then restore the right to buy in Wales, empowering local people to own a home in their own community. This would actually go some way to positively address the fact that new dwellings completed have fallen by a third since the start of this Senedd in 1999.

As the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru have stated:

'Social housing plays a vital role in alleviating those at the sharp end of the housing crisis'.

The private rental sector has a part to play too. The vast majority of our landlords are compliant, conscientious and responsible. The National Residential Landlords Association found that 90 per cent of landlords who were asked agreed to some degree of rent assistance. That was in addition to emerging measures like extended notice periods and the possession ban, which has led to some landlords falling into financial dire straits. However, this Welsh Government has put in place a system now that does allow bad tenants to take advantage by refusing to pay their rent, even when they are in an actual position to do so. So, it is little wonder then that a third of landlords have now indicated that they are more likely to leave the market entirely. And that would create a disastrous situation, as the shrinking available housing stock will make it even harder for people to find homes. The arrears issue has to be addressed, so I support calls from the NRLA for a relaxation of the eligibility criteria for a tenancy saver loan. The truth of the matter is that if you make it more attractive for a private landlord to move into the holiday let sector, then you're going to have less permanent accommodation.

Property owners can rent via Airbnb, as has been talked about, with ease and then they qualify for business rate relief. This loophole does need to be looked at and restricted so that only our long-term genuine holiday let businesses can benefit. As Dr Simon Brooks has stated, there are communities with a second homes problem where providing a sufficient supply of rented accommodation is more important than limiting the numbers of second homes, so you should be looking to incentivise our private landlords so that they wish to keep renting their properties to those who need them and to help bring empty homes into use, such as through a holistic package of council tax incentives.

It is a crisis that the total number of chargeable long-term empty properties has remained at around 25,000 annually during the last Senedd. We all agree that these need to be brought back into use. So, another way you can do this is by extending Help to Buy to include buildings in need of renovation. As it stands, Help to Buy is on a downward trajectory, so, therefore, it is vital that the Welsh Government encourage aspiration, and you can do this, for sure, by scrapping the land transaction tax for first-time buyers. I hope that the points I have outlined today actually do provide a cross-party starting point for co-operation on this crisis. Diolch.