Let us take one example from history. Following the second world war, what did Clement Attlee and Aneurin Bevan do? Well, they went about implementing the recommendations made in the Ridley report and strengthened rent controls, and embarked on a major programme of building public housing. Aneurin Bevan himself spoke about the need to safeguard tenants. And the people of Wales look to us today to do what we can to prevent them from falling into poverty following the huge post-COVID challenges. We don't know what the full impact of COVID will be yet—the picture will become clearer as time goes on—but we are starting to see its detrimental effect already, on top of over 10 years of stifling austerity. Wages have failed to keep up with inflation, inflation is about to hit its highest level for 30 years, and the cost of living is on the rise. But, on top of all this, rents have increased more in Wales than in any other part of the United Kingdom, with an increase of almost 13 per cent in the past year alone.

Over half the children who live in rented homes live in poverty. The percentage of people who live in poverty in the rental sector is higher in Wales than in any other part of the United Kingdom. Cardiff is having a particularly hard time, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimating that many spend 35 per cent of their income on rent alone. Young people can't afford to buy homes in their communities and waiting lists for social homes are very long. So, the only option is to rent privately or, for some, unfortunately, to live with their parents. It's little wonder that ONS figures show that a third of people between 20 and 30 years of age live with their parents here in Wales. Shelter Cymru has seen rents doubling in a month in some cases, and Acorn in Cardiff has seen landlords demanding more than an extra £100 per month in rent from their tenants. Without intervention, we will see more and more people finding themselves living in poverty or even becoming homeless.

I know that some will take fright at reading the motion and will instinctively oppose it, referring to examples where policy under the heading 'rent control' has failed. And that's true; some experiments have failed. But when they are designed in the right way, when they're targeted and when they dovetail with other successful policies, then rent control is a policy that succeeds and is popular. And they're popular today, with over two thirds of people supporting a policy of this kind in the United Kingdom, according to a recent YouGov opinion poll. Note that the motion does not propose a particular kind of rent control system, but it does note the need to impose controls on rents to a level that meets the ability to pay.

Let's look at some examples. The Government of the Republic of Ireland is not known for being particularly left wing; indeed, it is a more right-wing Government. But there, they have taken steps to control rents, with a rent review no less often than every two years and a 90-day period of notice of change. They have rent pressure zones in areas where the pressure is particularly high, which mean that rent cannot increase above the rate of inflation in those areas. In Catalunya, the Government there has introduced a regime that limits rents for specific cohorts of people, for example if rent equates to 30 per cent or more of their income. And, of course, rent controls exist in different states across the United States, having been introduced in a targeted manner.

It's clear, therefore, that careful preparatory work is vital to ensure success of this kind of policy. That's why I'm exceptionally pleased that this Government today has come to an agreement with us here in Plaid Cymru to look at the possibility of introducing rent controls as part of a wider package in a White Paper on housing. This will be the first step on the legislative journey to ensure that there's fairer housing here in Wales for our people.

This proposal, therefore, is an opportunity for an initial discussion on the potential for a fair system of controlling rents here, and the contribution that this could make to our wider objective of guaranteeing tenants' rights—people's right to live with a roof above their heads without the threat of homelessness casting a shadow over their lives. It is also a statement of a fundamental principle—that there is a fundamental injustice in our current housing regime, which is that people are living in poverty while a very small group of people profit from them.

I ask Members of the Senedd, therefore, to support this motion today, and to empower the Government to start the preparatory work to lay the foundations for the introduction of a rent control system, alongside our wider work to ensure that everyone has the right to a home here in Wales. Thank you very much.