There is a dire shortage of properties to buy and rent. Everyone should be entitled to one. Everyone should be entitled to a home, and yet 25,000 properties in Wales stand empty. The reality of the impact of second homes was clear to me whilst visiting a village in north-west Wales, seeing the amount of unlived-in two and three-bedroom properties that would have made really good starter homes. Some, I was told, were holiday homes, but some—well, quite a few—were in a state of disrepair and just left. One was an extremely useful bungalow, which are in scarce supply in the community, and the community had tried to buy it from a resident who didn't live in the village, but he said he was keeping it as a retirement investment, even though he was of retirement age.

Previously, I was aware of the term 'land banking', but what I saw was 'property banking' on a mass scale. To have so many empty properties wasted when there are so many people needing a roof over their head, a place to call home, is truly shocking. A right to a decent home, a proper education and healthcare is fundamental to well-being and what every person needs and deserves. Solutions, however, are complex and vary depending on areas, but there is no one size that fits all. And the definition of a second home is important. There is a difference between someone letting out a property as a holiday let, or someone having a property as a second home and just visiting occasionally. This must be balanced with the benefits that tourism brings, as we found.

But, our focus must also be on the cost-of-living and housing crisis that will impact the vulnerable the most. The Bevan Foundation reported that the local housing allowance only covered 4 per cent of properties in Wales. It was frozen in 2016 and again in 2020. This is shameful of UK Government, who want to cut public service funding and benefits further. Some landlords are flipping to Airbnbs, as according to a Bevan Foundation report, in some areas, they can earn more in 10 weeks than they would on a full-time rental through the local housing allowance. And that is a central issue we face—the idea that homes are an asset for the wealthy to make a profit from rather than a right that everyone should be entitled to. There are many actions that need to be taken to reverse the damage that has been done since Thatcher.

Tackling the number of second homes is just part of this. Rent controls, more social housing, and council house building—returning back to that again—will also be needed to protect tenants, while increasing the supply of housing. UK Government public sector funding over the last 12 years makes this much harder. Officers are overworked and overstretched, meaning planning takes longer. This goes back again to public service funding, to ensure that those that work in councils that have to deal with planning applications can actually get on with the job. I know the Minister is well aware of the challenges we face, and I trust that the Welsh Government will do what it can to address them. Thank you.