The following amendments have been selected: amendments 1, 2 and 3 in the name of Darren Millar.

Item 6 is the Plaid Cymru debate on the cost-of-living crisis and housing, and I call on Mabon ap Gwynfor to move the motion.

Motion NDM7989 Siân Gwenllian

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Notes that the cost-of-living crisis affecting households across Wales is increasing the risk of homelessness.

2. Notes that Wales's average rental values have increased to £726 per month in March 2022, up by 7.2 per cent compared to March 2021.

3. Notes that, despite the local housing allowance being designed to cover the lowest 30 per cent of households in Wales, only 3.8 per cent of households are actually covered by it.

4. Calls on the UK Government to reform the local housing allowance to make it work for Wales.

5. Calls on the Welsh Government to consider the recommendations of the End Youth Homelessness Cymru Roadmap.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I want to put on the record my declaration of interest, which is on the public record. May I also say that I note that it's the Deputy Minister responding today, and that we all on this side of the house extend our sympathies to the Minister at a difficult time for her and her family?

I wish to formally move the motion.

Let's begin with a fact, something that we all know. We're in the midst of both a housing crisis and one of the worst cost-of-living crises in living memory. These crises that we face are interlinked. The housing crisis—or rather, many of the most pervasive problems rooted in housing—is driving the cost-of-living crisis, and, in turn, the cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating the housing crisis. 

The local housing allowance is used to determine the maximum amount of support that a person receiving housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit is entitled to receive towards their rental costs in the private rental sector. It should provide security that the rent can be paid. As pointed out by the Bevan Foundation, one factor that has played a significant role in the emergence of today's housing crisis, and, in turn, the cost-of-living crisis that we now face, is reforms made to the local housing allowance, the LHA. It's designed to allow a tenant to rent a property in the cheapest 30 per cent of a market area. But the reforms made to the LHA mean that the amount of money that a low-income household receives through housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit is often less than their rent, meaning that they have to somehow make up the difference.

Single people under 35 with no dependants are particularly affected by these challenges, due to the fact that the LHA rate is set at the shared accommodation rate, meaning that financial support available to them via the social security system is limited. The result is that 68 per cent of households threatened with homelessness in 2019 were single-person households. This ultimately highlights the vulnerability of younger people to homelessness, partly as a result of the issues surrounding the LHA. Evidence demonstrates that a gap has developed between LHA and rents. Even the Department for Work and Pensions' own figures indicate that the LHA rate is lower than the rents of 67 per cent of renters that are in receipt of universal credit in Wales and are entitled to the housing element.

Research from the Bevan Foundation shows that, by the autumn of last year and across the 10 local authorities they looked at, only 3.8 per cent of all properties on the market were advertised at rates that were at or below LHA. The situation was more acute for those in shared accommodation, with worse effects for single people under 35 with no dependants. Furthermore, not a single shared accommodation property was found to be advertised at LHA rates in three out of 10 local authorities, while in six out of 10 local authorities the gap between LHA and rents exceeded £100 a month. The LHA freeze that occurred between 2016 and 2020 is the most high-profile reason for the gap between LHA and rents. Both the Office for National Statistics and local authority officers agree that rents rose in Wales during 2021, as they continue to do in 2022. Despite evident increases in rent, the LHA has been frozen at 2020-21 levels, widening the gap further and putting more people out of pocket.

We should also consider the issue of discretionary housing payments, DHPs. Authorities have tried to respond to problems mentioned by taking measures to incentivise landlords to rent at LHA rents, and DHPs have been used for this purpose. Despite their intended use being a short-term support measure to cover rent shortfalls, deposits and rent arrears, discretionary housing payments have been used by local authorities over longer periods to respond to the LHA rent gap. DHP assistance varies across local authorities, with some significantly underspending. And due to its nature as a short-term measure, it's not secure in the long term, but we would encourage local authorities to use these payments, so that those in need have some form of assistance in the short term at least.

Our motion also refers to youth homelessness. As we've already alluded to, younger people, or rather those under 35, face unique challenges when it comes to LHA, due to the LHA rate being set at the shared accommodation rate. Younger people, who tend to have fewer financial resources, are also closed out of good quality affordable rental accommodation, due to the practices of landlords, such as financial requirements. Young people experience homelessness, and the risk thereof, in unique ways, and we need to treat youth homelessness differently. 

Research shows that 48 per cent of homeless people in Wales first became homeless before the age of 21. Further, 73 per cent had been homeless more than once, showing that, if you become homeless once, it's likely to reoccur. This shows that to end adult homelessness it's necessary to intervene early and prevent young people from becoming homeless. The causes and impacts on young people of homelessness differ from the experiences of adults in some key areas. Young people experiencing homelessness are at a key developmental period, socially, psychologically and physiologically. Additionally, at the point of crisis, young people are without experience of independent living and the resilience of adulthood.

Young people are also treated differently under a number of areas of law. For example, at present, young people under the age of 35 are restricted in the amount of housing benefit they can access to secure accommodation. According to Government figures, relationship breakdown is the single greatest direct cause of homelessness. Family breakdowns are a crisis at any age, but they're likely to be more immediately threatening to a young person who is dependant on family members for a home.

Often, an individual won't know where to turn for advice and support, leaving them in unsafe and potentially abusive situations. For all of these reasons, youth homelessness requires a distinct approach from that which we take to adult homelessness. End Youth Homelessness Cymru's road map, which we refer to in our motion, offers a comprehensive homelessness prevention framework, which we want the Welsh Government to implement in full. The framework draws on the homelessness action group's recommendations, and provides a clear framework from the macro to the micro, from the broad societywide initiatives required to preventing the issues that undermine young people's ability to access secure, stable and sustainable accommodation, to targeted approaches, looking at high-risk groups such as vulnerable young people and young people through risky transitions, such as leaving care, prison or mental health in-patient treatment. We know that family breakdown is a key contributor, yes, and the road map offers some clear steps as to how we deal with these situations. Sadly, however, we know that there is no bigger driver of homelessness than poverty. The Government should deliver a comprehensive child poverty strategy with clear measurable and ambitious milestones, providing sufficient affordable housing for young people, and we recommend that local authorities proactively seek the views of young people when determining housing need for local development plans.

We have a housing crisis and a cost-of-living crisis that impact on everybody; however, young people, particularly vulnerable young people, are at a far greater risk. This is the next generation, the generation that will care for us as we grow old. These young people are reimagining Wales as we speak. They can see that what we have is not working for them. They want to see this changed and they're looking at us to listen to their concerns and act. The current order is pushing people into poverty and destitution. Is this the Wales we want to bequeath the next generation? Diolch.

I have selected the three amendments to the motion and I call on Janet Finch-Saunders to move amendments 1, 2 and 3, tabled in the name of Darren Millar.

Amendment 1—Darren Millar

Add as new point after point 1 and renumber accordingly:

Acknowledges that, until recently, there were more empty homes than second homes in Wales.

Amendment 2—Darren Millar

Add as new point after point 3 and renumber accordingly:

Recognises the important role that landlords play in providing accommodation in Wales.

Amendment 3—Darren Millar

Delete point 5 and replace with: 

Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a. reintroduce a reformed right-to-buy;

b. develop a Wales-wide scheme to provide incentives to bring more empty homes in need of renovation back into use;

c. respond to the recommendations of the End Youth Homelessness Cymru Roadmap;

d. rule out the introduction of rent controls in Wales.

Amendments 1, 2 and 3 moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'm very pleased to be moving those amendments. I also refer Members to my own declaration of interest in terms of property ownership.

I'm indeed actually very grateful for the opportunity to discuss within our Senedd the cost-of-living crisis, which is affecting residents in each one of our constituencies. Already, the UK Government is, for example, cutting fuel duty, raising national insurance thresholds and delivering a £9.1 billion energy bill rebate package.

You're now asking for consideration to be given to reforming the local housing allowance. Whilst I would like to hear further details of the proposed reform, I do know that the National Residential Landlords Association wants to see further positive action by the UK Government, such as a replication of the decision in 2021 to unfreeze the housing cost support element of universal credit, and I have to say that I am becoming quite concerned by the numbers of people who are not receiving enough money to cover their rent. To me, it's a fundamental basic right. So, I will certainly be writing to the UK Government to ask it to look at this, because it does concern me that there is a gap between the local housing allowance payment and the average mean monthly rent of almost £92. However, it is a fact that how much an individual receives in housing benefit is dependent on a number of factors, including the lower figure of eligible rent, or LHA rate, household income, including benefits, pensions and savings over £6,000, and circumstances such as age or whether there is a disability.

I'm sure that every single one of us as Senedd Members want people to be in decent homes where they can then pursue the jobs that they love and save—actually be able to save one day—for a home that they might want to call their own. So, I do hope that Members will agree with the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP's suggestion that boosting social rented property is a key way into home ownership, as renters will be able to save more to buy a home of their own. And who are we to say that people don't, or shouldn't, deserve a home of their own?

The Welsh Conservatives have been clear that we should have an ambitious target to build 100,000 homes over the next 10 years, whilst ensuring enough affordable housing in our local communities, including 40,000 social homes. At a time when only 4,616 new dwellings were completed in 2021, when the figure should have been 12,000, it's basically fact that there isn't a drive forward of new housing projects.

In fact, what we are now seeing as a result of this co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru is one that does the complete opposite to making homes affordable for local people on low incomes. A recent English Private Landlord Survey shows that 70 per cent of landlords keep rents the same rather than increasing them when extending or renewing a tenancy agreement. So, tenants should be aware that what Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour are calling for is a Welsh Government-sanctioned rent increase. In fact, tenants watching this today should be aware that the Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour intention could actually see you in poorer quality housing, because the OECD has found a correlation between countries with the strictest rent controls having a poorer quality. The message is clear: we should support tenants by not forcing landlords to increase rents, and by seeing Wales deliver more social housing and market stock.

Of course, though, this should be accompanied by other policies, such as the reintroduction of right to buy, which ensures the reinvesting of sale proceeds into more social housing and protecting those homes for sale for 10 years; the development a Wales-wide scheme to provide incentives to bring more empty homes in need of renovation back into use; and further action to tackle homelessness.

I don't know if many Members have considered the road map to ending youth homelessness in Wales. It's obvious that it's essential that the Welsh Government respond to the recommendations in detail, but they do need to explain to the Senedd today why local authorities are not currently required to proactively seek the views of young people when determining housing need for local development plans. Young people at risk of youth homelessness are not included in these Welsh Government and local authority social procurement policies, and we simply don't have a comprehensive child poverty strategy with clear—

Janet, you need to conclude now, please.

—and ambitious milestones. The people of Wales deserve decent homes, and I applaud the many builders and landlords for delivering exactly that. Diolch.

Can I thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate? I'm also pleased that I am no longer a lone voice raising housing concerns—we're talking about it more and more. Can I just say something in response to what Janet Finch-Saunders said? And I'm quite happy to be interrupted if what I say is wrong. I would say, unequivocally, that no-one wants landlords to increase rents. No-one wants that to happen.

The major post-war solution to the housing crisis was to build council houses. It worked. I believe that this is still the best long-term solution. It, however, took 25 years post second world war to reach close to housing equilibrium. So, the mass building of council housing is not a quick fix. It's, however, the only long-term fix that will work, with the housing built being low energy, thus reducing the cost to the people living in those houses of energy costs, and helping to solve the other problem we've got, which is climate change. It's a win-win-win situation. 

I am, however, currently concerned that over 70 per cent of private rented households in Wales relying on universal credit to pay their rent have a shortfall between the amount they receive and the rent they pay. With local housing allowance having been frozen in cash terms since April last year, this proportion with a funding shortfall is set to increase still further, despite private rents in Wales increasing by much less than inflation. Private landlords aren't pushing up the rents, but what is happening is that local housing allowance is getting nowhere near meeting what is needed.

Given the cost-of-living crisis, it's illogical and cruel to have a housing benefits system that fails to reflect the realities of private rents. UK Government needs urgently to unfreeze the local housing allowance and peg it to average rents in any given area. Without this, an increasing number of renters are going to struggle to pay their rent, eat and heat their homes—something is going to give. And if you go and see the queues in foodbanks, you can see one of the things that is giving.

Many people, mainly working families, through no fault of their own, face a serious financial squeeze. There is no justification for continuing to fail to provide housing benefit support that provides the security of knowing that those relying on it can cover their rents. All it is doing is exacerbating the already serious cost-of-living crisis faced by many tenants across the country. Importantly, there is little evidence to suggest that increasing the local housing allowance would artificially inflate rents. As Ruth Ehrlich, policy manager at Shelter noted:

'We have not found any significant relationship between the proportion of people claiming LHA in a given area and rent inflation.'

I call on the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to unfreeze the local housing rate, and I also call on the Welsh Government to make exactly the same demand of the Westminster Government.

In 2021, as a response to the pandemic, the UK Government took the decision after many years to unfreeze the housing cost support element of universal credit, known as local housing allowance. It meant that it would cover the bottom 30 per cent of rental prices in any given area—nowhere near what it should be, but it was moving in the right direction. In his 2020 spending review, however, the Chancellor took the decision to once again freeze the LHA rate in cash terms from 1 April 2021. So, every year that goes on, 2 or 3 per cent more people end up not having enough. As rents increase, the fraction of properties that private renters in receipt of universal credit can afford will steadily decline. The amount of support that renters receive is linked not to current rents, but to those in 2019, which is three years back. It is little wonder that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has described the freeze as 'arbitrary and unfair'. I'd add another two words to it: unkind and unnecessary.

The most recently available data from the Department for Work and Pensions shows that, as of November 2021, across Wales, almost 62,000, which is two thirds of the private rented houses on benefit, had a gap between their local housing allowance award and their monthly rent. How are they going to make that up? It's by turning the heating down, turning the heating off, not buying the tokens to pay for the heating and, more seriously, not getting food. And I've said this before, that people, mainly mothers, will just go hungry, because they haven't got enough food to feed themselves and their children, so their children come first. Is that the sort of society that we want? Is that the sort of society that the Conservatives wish to force on us?

It should be noted that this is all happening—[Interruption.] Yes, certainly.

Thank you, Mike. I agree with all the points that you've said, and this is certainly not the society that we want. Do you agree with me that it's time, next Thursday, to send a message to the UK Conservative Government and vote Labour?

I always say that, Jack Sargeant.

It should be noted that this is all happening even though private rents across the UK have increased by far less over the last year than all measures of inflation. Can I agree with one thing of the Conservatives? There are too many empty properties. Having spent most of the last three weeks canvassing and delivering leaflets, it's sad to see so many properties just left empty, often in areas that people want to live in. Empty properties are a wasted resource, so I would like to see any property being left empty for more than five years being able to be compulsorily purchased by the local authority and if in need of renovation, being renovated by the local authority.

And finally, I want to raise the benefit of establishing a Welsh housing survey and improve data relating to the Welsh private rented sector, so that we know exactly what the standard and quality of housing is.

Sioned Williams. No, Sioned, hang on a second, you're not unmuted yet. Okay, now you are.

Okay?

Yes.

Diolch. As we've heard from Mabon ap Gwynfor, the cost-of-living crisis currently hitting all our communities is directly interlinked with the severe housing crisis in Wales, with devastating consequences for our young people especially. And from the conversations we've all been having, out knocking doors over the past week and through our case work, I'm sure that you have found, like I have, that one of the main ways that people have been experiencing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis is through the huge hikes in their energy bills and the consequences of not being able to afford to pay those bills.

The worrying conversations on the doorstep and anxious e-mails from constituents are mirrored by the evidence from those agencies that are trying to help. In March, for example, Citizens Advice helped more people with fuel debt issues than during any single month for the last five years. Record inflation is also pushing up everyday costs. Just this week, food price inflation hit its highest rate for 11 years.

The limited action able to be taken by Welsh Government to mitigate the impact on household budgets and debt is welcome, but even after taking into account the help available, a single person on benefits will still be spending a quarter of their standard allowance, the basic rate of universal credit, on energy bills. Looking ahead to October, a single person on benefits could end up spending between 39 per cent and 47 per cent of their standard allowance on energy bills. The definition of fuel poverty is spending more than 10 per cent of your income on energy. So, we know that the tough times are already here and facing too many households in Wales, and they're going to get even tougher. The situation in Ukraine, the actions of Putin and the inaction of the Westminster Government to target help where it's most needed is making a bad situation worse. And with rents and house prices rising, people are having to choose between moving into properties where rents are unsustainably high, moving into low-cost, low-quality properties or face homelessness, and we know that homelessness disproportionately affects certain groups in our society, further compounding the inequalities they face.

LGBTQ+ young people, for example, are disproportionately over-represented in the wider homelessness population, more likely to leave stable accommodation to escape emotional, mental or sexual abuse and are at greater risk of harm when homeless than non-LGBTQ+ young people. Despite this, they are underserved by support services designed to respond to their specific needs. According to Stonewall Cymru, LGBTQ+ people often have poor experiences of housing services, including staff making assumptions about their sexual orientation or gender identity or not having sufficient information about the housing issues they might face.

The Albert Kennedy Trust found that 24 per cent of the youth homelessness population across the UK identified as LGBT. By contrast, ONS statistics suggest that just 4.1 per cent of the population are LGBT. In Wales, statistics for 2017-18 demonstrate that 9 per cent of the young people accessing Llamau supported housing services classify themselves as LGBT. In addition to the harrowing picture painted by the statistics already mentioned, End Youth Homelessness Cymru's 'Out on the Streets' report found that LGBTQ+ young people are four times more likely to become homeless than their non-LGBTQ+ peers—four times more likely.

Homelessness is traumatic and challenging for anyone, but LGBTQ+ young people often also have to cope with homophobic, biphobic and transphobic violence and discrimination. As a result, they experience a greater risk of psychological harm than non-LGBTQ+ people and are more likely to develop substance abuse problems, be exposed to sexual exploitation and experience greater difficulty obtaining safe shelter, staying in school, earning money and accessing social support and health services. It's concerning at the very least that LGBTQ+ homelessness is not mentioned once in the Welsh Government's homelessness strategy. 

How can we not take every action possible to ensure the factors that lead to homelessness, as have been outlined this afternoon, are addressed urgently by both the UK and Welsh Governments? How many reports, how many statistics, how much research have been shared in this place and in the House of Commons over the years? But it took a once-in-a-century event—a global pandemic—for real action to be taken to end homelessness, thus proving this really is just a matter of political will. Housing first should of course be the default option for anyone with complex needs who is experiencing homelessness, and the Welsh Government should appoint a national director for housing first policy to achieve this throughout Wales. 

I urge Members to support our motion. We don't need to accept the situation—indeed, we can't—and we need to look our young people and our most vulnerable people in the eye.

I'd like to thank Plaid Cymru for putting forward this important debate in advance of the veritable tsunami that will hit us this winter as a result of the Tory cost-of-living crisis—the cost-of-living crisis devised and delivered by the UK Tory Government. I agree with everything that Mike Hedges says. We need to do something urgently to tackle the actual cost of living in a home—not just the rent, but also the heating, which I'm sure we'll come back and debate another day.

I'd like to just focus on this whole business of the local housing allowance, because I think that although the rate is set at the lowest 30 per cent of properties being what is supposed to be affordable, what in reality is the case is that it's actually less that 4 per cent of properties are affordable—4 per cent. Just imagine it in wherever your constituency is. If only 4 per cent of the properties are available to something like 25 to 35 per cent of the people who live there, there's clearly a massive problem. And it's very well highlighted by the Welsh Government page on the local housing allowance. The frequently asked question states that if your rent is higher than the local housing allowance rate, then you will have to pay the difference, and if you cannot afford to pay, you will need to find accommodation within the allowance rate. Good idea, but there isn't that rate there.

Cardiff has the highest rent levels by a million miles in the whole of Wales, and that is not unrelated to the fact that it is my constituency that has the highest number of students across the UK. Obviously, the existence of this student housing market encourages landlords to ratchet up the rents for students, knowing that (a) they're not eligible for the local housing allowance, but (b) they're having to acquire so much debt anyway by virtue of going to university, that they are encouraged to just take the hit. I almost never get students coming to complain about the deplorable quality of the housing that these landlords are charging really eye-watering sums for.

Just to go back to the ordinary families who aren't students but who are having to scurry around, looking for that 4 per cent of properties that are available and affordable, a constituent of mine I've been dealing with in the last week or two—going back to what Janet Finch-Saunders had to say—thought they had a home of their own. They'd been living there for the last nine years, this family of five. It's abysmally maintained by the landlord, but they had been doing the work themselves in order to avoid either being evicted because they've asked for the repairs to be done, or their family having some sort of accident as a result of the level of disrepair.

They're in a very cheap property at the moment by Cardiff standards—a three-bed property for £850. But that still means they're having to put over £75 a month of their own money, from this one person's low wage, into subsidising the housing, and that is money that they're supposed to be using for food and housing costs and other costs. This family that have been living nine years in this property are now going to be homeless any minute now, because the court order to evict them has already been allowed. They could be sent absolutely anywhere in Cardiff, and meanwhile, one of the children is in year 6 in primary school, and she faces either several miles to get to school or having to move at this late stage in her school career. This is completely devastating, and this is one of the primary reasons why private rented housing is not suitable for people with children, because it gives you none of the security that you need in order to ensure that your children can continue to go to the same school.

Quite apart from that, the levels of shortfall in housing in Cardiff are really quite devastating. For two-bed housing, the shortfall on the housing allowance is between £100 and £350 a month, with most of them being in the upper limits. For a three-bed property, like the family I've just been telling you about, the majority of people will have to put in £1,100 to £1,400 of their own money. This is a family where I imagine this individual is not even earning that much money—

Jenny, you need to conclude now, please.

This is truly devastating. Just to respond to Janet Finch-Saunders, if 60 per cent of landlords are pegging their rents to last year's rates, that means 40 per cent of them are not, and that is what is causing an absolute wave of evictions in my constituency. Goodness knows what is going to happen in the winter.

My Plaid Cymru colleagues have set out the risks and outcomes of a failing housing support system. Another factor at play when it comes to housing support and homelessness is the housing market and supply. When it comes to the housing market, renters are truly at the bottom of the pile, and therefore their homelessness risk increases. Prospective renters are continually required to jump through more and more hoops, completely at odds with the premise of the right to a home. A significant amount of often prohibitive requirements are put in place by landlords before they allow a prospective tenant to rent their property, such as deposits and guarantors, minimum income requirements, extensive credit checks, references and rent upfront. These requirements act as a barrier to many low-income renters, which, in turn, lowers the pool of available housing. A third of surveyed properties had such requirements. When you take the 3.8 per cent covered by the local housing authority and add these requirements, only about 2.1 per cent of properties are covered by local housing authorities with excessive requirements. That's one in 50 properties you can access as a low-income tenant.

Beyond the problems faced by renters are those that exist in houses in multiple occupation. Issues surrounding housing provision can exacerbate personal challenges for anyone, but first-hand testimony and corroborating research highlight that HMOs house a disproportionate number of people with multiple and complex needs. Many tenants highlight mental health challenges at the centre of their needs, either compounded or caused by adverse life experiences. They are more likely to have negative housing experiences, confusion over payments, debt to landlords, and safety concerns related to criminal activity within HMOs chief among them. HMO landlords and owners demonstrate very little duty of care in relation to tenants' welfare. Where support is available, it often comes from informal networks or voluntary sector organisations.

It has long been recognised that residential environments are a key determinant of well-being, with literature from a broad range of disciplines evidencing a link between housing and health outcomes. Furthermore, because of the punitive pre-tenancy checks conducted by landlords, it is highly probable that this worsens an already prevalent issue, which is the under-reporting of mental ill health. Time to Change Wales in 2016 found that one in 10 people surveyed believed that individuals with mental health problems are less trustworthy than people without such issues. A 2010 poll by YouGov, also commissioned by Time to Change, found that 66 per cent of people surveyed in Wales would not rent a room in a shared flat to someone with a mental health condition. It seems to me that we need to develop narratives of understanding and compassion to challenge the culture of stigmatisation. There are some real structural issues to overcome. This type of accommodation cannot be a lasting solution to the lack of housing supply, but it is an obvious consequence. There is opportunism and profiteering, but, ultimately, it is the conditions created largely by Government policy that have created a climate for this to thrive.

The supply of new units of social housing remains lower than it was in the 1990s, most of the 1980s and substantially lower than the second part of the 1970s. This reflects successive Governments' lack of willingness to invest in new social housing over the period. There are 67,000 households currently on housing waiting lists across Wales. An essential step in solving the housing crisis in Wales is a massive increase in housing supply, led by the public not private sector. Publicly built housing should become a mainstream option for those on average incomes, not just those on lower incomes. I look forward with eagerness to see what Unnos, the national construction company born from the co-operation agreement, can achieve. Hopefully, the investment in a public housing programme that produces better quality, greener homes can set us on a path to see an end to the housing crisis and also alleviate other pressures arising from poor health, poor mental health and poverty. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you to Plaid Cymru for bringing this debate to the Chamber today. Insecurity around housing continues to be a key issue facing residents across Wales, as we've heard, and especially across Bridgend and Porthcawl, my own community. This has undoubtedly been exacerbated by the Conservative UK Government cost-of-living crisis.

The report by End Youth Homelessness Cymru states that a secure and safe home is everything to a child, and I agree that we must not underestimate the impacts that housing insecurity can create on the future of children in our communities. This is certainly the case in my community. In Bridgend, we have the Wallich, an organisation that partners with Bridgend County Borough Council to assist with homelessness in our community. In their report, the Wallich quotes Aaron who is 18, who said,

'It’s hard to get to where you want to be in life when living in a hostel, but I’d rather be [in a hostel] than on the streets'.

And Lacey said all she wants is a place to call a safe and happy home. Furthermore, the reports by End Youth Homelessness Cymru showed that contributing factors of homelessness came from discrimination against people from ethnic minority communities and LGBTQ+ people, disadvantages of the systems faced by asylum seekers and refugees, and those with care-experienced backgrounds, with over a third of care leavers facing homelessness in the first two years after leaving care. This is unacceptable. We need a system and a society that allows all young people the choice to set their path regardless of their background. Poverty in housing should never be a barrier. That is why I fully support the Welsh Government's young person's guarantee for all those under 25 to be offered a job, education, an apprenticeship or support for starting a business. I'm also optimistic to see how the universal basic income pilot for all care leavers will help to empower, and I am pleased that a pilot for this is being looked at in Bridgend. However, I want to stress that young people who take part will need comprehensive and consistent support to be able to navigate change and opportunity in their lives.

There is a lot of invaluable work taking place across Wales. This is reflected both in the Welsh Government's commitments and the work being done on the ground in our communities. Our very own local charity in Bridgend, the Bridge mentoring scheme, and their community centre, the Zone, in the town centre, is very much a lifeline for so many people and young people on the cusp of homelessness. To have somewhere to turn to and be offered a cup of tea or given advice and signposting is crucial for some of the most vulnerable in our community. Without the Bridge, for many there may be no other place to turn to.

Yet, if we are to see an end to homelessness, we must start by addressing the Conservative UK Government cost-of-living crisis. Benefit payments have fallen to their lowest point in 50 years; three quarters of households will be worse off than a year ago. After years of cuts, the UK Government's local housing allowance does not reflect the financial hardship faced by our communities. With poverty being the leading cause of youth homelessness, I fear that this crisis will be the trigger that causes our most vulnerable young people and children to go without a home. The support networks are working at full capacity. Our communities are stretching their arms as wide as they possibly can to protect our young people from homelessness, but now we need Westminster to provide fair and appropriate support and relief too. Diolch.

I call on the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters. 

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I start by thanking Mabon ap Gwynfor for his comments about the Minister's family situation, which I'll pass on to her?

Ending homelessness remains a key priority in Wales and is reflected in our programme for government and in the co-operation agreement. The emergency homelessness response throughout the pandemic, and continuing today, has been phenomenal, as Sioned Williams rightly recognised. But we've been clear that we mustn't slip backwards, and there will be no going back, Dirprwy Lywydd. We are committed to ending all forms of homelessness, and this is reflected in our all-age ending homelessness action plan published last November. That sets out how we will achieve our long-term ambition and has at its core the radical shift needed to end homelessness in Wales. Underpinning this is our ambitious target to deliver 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector in this Senedd term.

Our commitment is demonstrated in the investment we're making: over £197 million in housing support and homelessness prevention services in the final budget this year and a record £310 million in social housing. But we don't underestimate the scale of this challenge, and that's why we're working cross-Government to use all the levers we have in Wales to deliver for those most in need. The Minister for Social Justice has already spoken about the range of measures that we've implemented as a Government to help tackle the cost-of-living crisis. The recently announced £380 million package includes a £150 cost-of-living payment for all households in properties in council tax bands A to D and to all households receiving support from the council tax reduction scheme in all council tax bands. The package also includes a winter fuel support scheme that provided a £200 payment for eligible households to help meet the cost of essential bills over the winter. This is tangible help, money in people's pockets that will help them with their day-to-day expenses.

But the powers and the fiscal resources needed to help people with the spiralling cost of energy bills and increasing housing costs lie mainly with the UK Government, and our calls on them to take the action they need to take are sadly falling on deaf ears. The Minister for Climate Change and the Minister for Social Justice have recently written to the UK Government calling on them once again to take urgent steps to relieve householders of the energy and broader cost-of-living crisis causing such distress and concern to Welsh citizens. The Office for National Statistics data indicate that rents increased, on average, by 1.6 per cent in past year. Rents for new lets and rents in particular areas of Wales are increasing at a much faster rate, and this is undoubtedly putting further pressure on people who are already struggling.

The discretionary housing payment budget can be used by local authorities to support those people most affected by the benefit cuts. But this year the Conservative Government saw fit to cut that budget by around £2.3 million, a 27 per cent cut, compared to last year, and this is on top of a previous cut of 18 per cent. Now, this is a huge reduction in funding, and it will exacerbate the plight of those already experiencing the cost-of-living crisis. Julie James has already called on the UK Government for the discretionary housing payment budget to be fully reinstated in her recent written statement, but there is no indication that the UK Government will heed those calls. The Minister has also emphasised that local housing allowance rates have not risen in three and a half years by March 2023 and therefore do not take account of some of the very significant increases in rent levels in some areas—another really clear example of how out of touch the UK Government is and how prepared they are to sit back and watch the crisis unfold.

Now, I was pretty staggered to hear Janet Finch-Saunders say she was shocked to hear of the gap between the housing allowance and the mean level of local rates. I mean, where has she been living? This has been consistently raised by non-governmental organisations and indeed by the Labour Party through the years of Tory Government-induced austerity. Jenny Rathbone catalogued what this means in practice in her constituency and the invidious choice it presents to people already on low incomes. But Janet Finch-Saunders makes it sound like a surprising phenomenon, something she's just happened to come across. It is deliberate. It has been a deliberate aim of UK Government policy, as Peredur Griffiths set out so carefully in his speech, and it is ideological. It is part of their agenda of demonising the poor and of scapegoating people who are in need of benefits. Now, I'm very pleased that Janet Finch-Saunders has finally clocked what's going on, and indeed is going to write to the UK Government, and I'm sure that the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP will read the letter with interest, but don't pretend, Janet, that the deepening housing crisis is an accidental phenomenon, it's a direct consequence of Tory housing policy.

In Wales we'll continue to do all we can, with the powers we have, to deliver for those most in need. In January we launched leasing scheme Wales, worth £30 million over five years, to improve access to longer term affordable housing in the private rental sector. It will deliver security for tenants and confidence for landlords. The scheme is designed to support the most disadvantaged individuals and households who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Tenants of the scheme will benefit from longer term security of tenure of between five and 20 years, at rents restricted to local housing allowance rates, and there will be additional funding to ensure that they receive the level of support they will expect in social housing.

Turing briefly to the End Youth Homelessness campaign highlighted in the motion, this campaign and the Welsh Government share a common goal—to end youth homelessness. This goal is a central element of everything we do to end homelessness in all its forms. We need to have one strategy to end homelessness—the overarching framework required to achieve this aim will meet the diverse needs of all groups. Within our action plan and overall strategic approach, there needs to be youth-focused housing and supporting actions, as well as those focused on other groups to capture this intersectionality. For young people in particular we're taking forward a suite of Government measures that provide a holistic response to addressing youth homelessness. Indeed, we're already funding many of the projects that form part of that important road map, including Housing First for Youth, supported lodgings, family mediation, tenancy support, training flats, Tai Ffres and Tŷ Pride, and LGBTQ+ supportive housing projects. We'll of course consider the recommendations set out in the road map, and indeed we considered an earlier version of it in our action plan. But our continuing focus is to implement the homelessness action recommendation together with Plaid Cymru to fundamentally reform homelessness services to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and unrepeated, as set out in the co-operation agreement and the programme for government.

So, to conclude, Dirprwy Lywydd, we acknowledge the huge cost-of-living crisis faced by households in Wales, and we are and we will continue to do everything in our power, with the levers we have, to support people through this challenging time.

I call on Mabon ap Gwynfor to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you all for the very thoughtful and very constructive contributions to this debate today. I agree with the Deputy Minister when he referenced Janet Finch-Saunders's contribution and her concern at the number of people not receiving enough money to cover rent, and I'm really glad that she's now realised that there is a crisis, and will contact the UK Government. It's a crisis that's been ongoing for many years, Janet, but welcome to the game at last.

Mike, thank you for being a champion for housing for the last number of years and making sure that you've been banging the drum, as you said, and thanks for pointing out that there's no link between rent inflation and the increasing housing allowances. Sioned made a point that the LGBTQ+ community is disproportionately represented in homelessness statistics, and that we need to specifically look at those communities. Jenny Rathbone made a point of the case study that you have in your constituency; I sincerely hope that that family you referenced will find housing soon, but it's an example of how this impacts on people right across Wales, from Caernarfon down to Cardiff.

Peredur, of course, made a point of concentrating on HMOs, and the fact that tenants are more likely to have negative rental experiences in HMOs. Thank you for that contribution. Sarah, you referenced the Wallich, and Aaron and Lacey, two young people who were looking for housing, but specifically you said that universal basic income would be a help. I too am looking forward to seeing the impact of UBI, and I think it will be a positive step forward.

Then, finally, the Deputy Minister—I thank him for his contribution. I'm looking forward to seeing the impact of the interventions that the Government will be making over the next few years in co-operation with Plaid Cymru, some of them very exciting, and making sure that we end homelessness. As the Deputy Minister said, the powers and the fiscal resources to help people lie with the UK Government—absolutely true. This is why we need to devolve welfare. In fact, I'd go further and say this is why we need independence, so that Wales decides our own fiscal and economic policies, and we direct our own future.

The Conservative amendment mentions right to buy. Once again, right to buy is not part of the solution, it's actually part of the problem. Many of the properties that we're now seeing as troublesome properties are former houses in public ownership, and now they have less quality control over them, and public money is now lining private pockets and not being ploughed back into public housing. So, no, reintroducing right to buy will push house prices up and further push rental prices up.

Our motion clearly calls on the UK Government to reform the local housing allowance to make it work for Wales and calls on the Welsh Government to consider the recommendations of the End Youth Homelessness Cymru road map. As it stands, local housing allowance rates are set at levels that are simply too low to cover the rents of low-income renters, as we've been told time and again. Reforming the local housing allowance is key if we're to find long-term solutions to the problems we've discussed here today.

The UK Government must uprate the local housing allowance annually so it keeps pace with rising rents. It must scrap the shared accommodation local housing allowance rate, with single tenants under 35 being entitled to the one-bedroom LHA rate. The UK Government must play its role, and the Welsh Government must also consider the recommendations made by the Bevan Foundation when it comes to improving data on rents, action on top-up rents, action on rent controls, as well as protecting tenants. Aside from following End Youth Homelessness Cymru's road map, the Government should also consider that, while the goal must be to end youth homelessness, there will probably always be a need for crisis, emergency and recovery accommodation and prevention. When young people do become homeless, local authorities need to have a different range of options to meet young people's needs.

So, there we have it. Those are the reasons why we need to support this motion. Please do so. Diolch.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes. I did hear an objection. Therefore, I will defer voting on the motion until voting time. 

Voting deferred until voting time.

And we have now reached voting time. We will take a short break to prepare for the vote. 

Plenary was suspended at 17:00.

The Senedd reconvened at 17:04, with the Deputy Presiding Officer in the Chair.