Before I start, I'll take no lectures from the Liberal Democrats on second homes when some of them have got homes in France, and I even think the Liberal Democrat here has got two homes, but there we go; I'll leave that there.

As the Minister knows, housing is very close to my heart, and as I was a local government cabinet member for housing, I know intricately the issues that the sector is facing. Because currently the property market is out of kilter, with the vast majority of young people's aspirations of home ownership in Wales going out the window. People, especially young people, are becoming locked out of the housing market. Working people with well-paid salaries are struggling to raise the funds to pay the huge deposits needed to meet the criteria for mortgages.

The dream of home ownership for my generation is seemingly a distant memory. The average house price in Wales is six times the annual wage, and many people are struggling to find the deposits necessary for house purchases—as we've heard from other Members, even those with the bank of mum and dad. Mortgage lenders have not kept pace with the change in job markets, and it is harder now than ever before to meet the criteria of the main mortgage lenders. We find ourselves in a situation of shortage in the housing market, and prices being pushed up even further, with some areas of Wales seeing an increase of 50 per cent in average rises in house prices.

In my own constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire, we're experiencing an acute shortage of rental properties, and almost weekly inflationary pressures on house prices, and bidding wars between purchasers, and a stop now on development because of the new phosphate regulations from Natural Resources Wales. So, new home developments in my constituency have come to an abrupt stop.

Housing is now out of reach for a large proportion of my generation and others. This housing crisis in Wales is totally unacceptable. Politicians in this Chamber and wider talk the talk when it comes to the housing crisis, but we're failing to deal with the issue.

Many people of an older generation are home owners, benefitting from the decades of price booms in the housing market. But for those of us yet to get on the housing ladder it feels like an insurmountable challenge. The affordable housing just isn't there in the quantities we need it, and we cannot deliver unless the Welsh Government shows real ambition to build more homes and dedicate large-scale investment, relax planning applications, and grow the skills we need within our skills sector to actually build the homes we need.

So, Minister, what is your Government seriously going to do to help my generation and others to get on the housing ladder, and not keep pushing people into social housing or the private rented sector, which is not for everyone? I will work with anyone across this Senedd to bring in the policies we need to get this situation under control, because the current strategy just is not working. Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.