The need for shelter is one of the most basic human needs, but this need can be exploited. Many of the problems that we discuss day in, day out with our constituents are related to the housing emergency that has engulfed our communities. Because be in no doubt, this is an emergency, and it is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable in our society the hardest. We must act to protect them. 

Housing is the single largest living cost faced by most families in Wales, and uncontrolled increases in rents are forcing too many tenants to pay landlords an unreasonable and ultimately unsustainable proportion of their limited income. The picture painted by the statistics quoted by Mabon ap Gwynfor reveals the extent and deepening negative effect of unaffordable unfair rents, which disproportionately hit those on low incomes, deepening inequality, exacerbating already too high levels of poverty. And we know that women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, young people, refugees, migrants, disabled people and LGBTQ+ people are all disproportionately affected by economic structures that penalise those on low incomes, whilst also facing discrimination as regards access to housing. 

As we've heard from Mabon ap Gwynfor, rents have increased by almost 13 per cent in Wales over the last year. Shelter Cymru's casework has seen cases of severe increases, in one instance by as much as 100 per cent per month. And the consequences for those unable to afford these increases are dire, often leading to problem debt, eviction, homelessness. Wages have not increased accordingly, and with fuel prices skyrocketing, as well as the rising cost of everyday essentials, the need to act to ensure an end to the way uncontrolled rents are contributing to the cost-of-living crisis and wider social inequality is urgent.

Economic justice is an equalities issue. The actions of those of us on the progressive wing of politics must match stated ambitions. As Mabon mentioned, we have an opportunity here to put in train the first steps of meaningful action to help tenants, such as considering targeted rent controls, and supporting the Government's White Paper on housing, and, in doing so, carry the mantle of the giants of Wales's radical tradition. Fellow Members, let's show we are the inheritors of that radical tradition. 

Poverty limits your freedom to enjoy an enjoyable and authentic life, but even the possibility of being plunged into poverty or losing your home is enough to curtail your freedom. So long as landlords continue to have the capacity to arbitrarily raise rent, tenants will continue to live under a dark cloud of economic uncertainty. This motion is an indication that we as a Senedd would stand up for the rights and freedoms of ordinary people to be able to live their lives without that constant threat. The housing crisis is the result of an economic system that is designed to protect the wealth of the few not the needs of the many, and without mitigation, such as a form of rent control, the system will remain intact. Diolch.