Thank you to Luke for bringing this proposal forward. It's one I've long supported, indeed the Senedd petition for 'no pet' clauses to be banned, which was signed by more than 850 people, originated in my constituency of North Wales by Sam Swash.

On a principle level, it's completely unfair that being able to own a pet is currently reliant on whether you own a house or not. The lack of legislation banning 'no pet' clauses further entrenches punishment on the growing number of people, particularly the young, who are unable to get on the housing ladder. Most of these people would prefer to have their own home, but are unable to do so because of wealth inequality, rocketing house prices and a lack of affordable housing. They're often forced to rent out of necessity, paying more in rental payments than they would in mortgage payments, such is the extent to which our housing system is broken. And to further restrict the freedom of this group of people to own a pet, which would bring them great comfort, is adding insult to injury. 

Any society that places restrictions on the rights of people based on whether they are affluent enough to own a property is not one that has the right to call itself progressive. Tenants and pets suffer every day across Wales because of these punitive blanket bans on pets. The single biggest reason given for dogs being handed into rehoming centres is because of a change of circumstances, which is being unable to live in a rented property with a pet. It's abundantly clear that the current legislation is failing. Encouraging landlords to be more accommodating by sharing best practice with them was never going to address this problem, as is evidenced by the fact that less than 7 per cent of private rentals are advertised as pet friendly—that's less than 7 per cent.

I often hear excuses made about the potential damage that pets could cause to rental properties, yet very few private tenants who own pets cause damage to the properties they rent—it doesn't happen. To compound that, according to Shelter Cymru, 34 per cent of private rented accommodations in Wales fail to meet standards on decent living conditions anyway. When more than a third of private rented housing in Wales does not even meet acceptable living standards, it's clear that these landlords are not held to the same standards as tenants, when tenants are punished wholesale on the basis of hypothetical, potential events. 

The position in Wales is no longer tenable and this is only exacerbated by the fact that the UK Government, hardly known for its progressive sympathies, has already legislated to end this practice. And I would encourage the Welsh Government to implement Luke's proposal as soon as possible to ensure that we no longer discriminate against tenants with pets here in Wales.