Of course, we'd already introduced a range of measures, including changes to the upper limit for discretionary council tax premiums and second and long-term empty homes. The changes will have effect from 1 April next year and local authorities are able to consult now and then act on their decisions—I know that Gwynedd is already doing this—to make balanced choices about an appropriate premium to reflect local circumstances. We've also made changes to the letting criteria for self-catering accommodation to be classified as non-domestic, and liable for non-domestic rates, rather than domestic and liable for council tax. These measures, aligned with the changes being made to the planning framework, provide us and local authorities with a toolbox to manage more effectively future numbers of second homes and short-term lets.

Of course, we recognise the contribution that fair tourism has to make, but we cannot continue to see communities being hollowed out. This balanced and robust package of interventions is unparalleled in the UK context and demonstrates how seriously we have been and are taking the situation. More broadly, we're working on a number of complementary actions, working with local authorities in terms of options and possible local flexibility on land transaction tax for second homes and short-term holiday lets. This would help us respond further to uneven distribution of second homes across Wales and indeed, within authority areas as well.

We are continuing to explore options to bring more empty homes back into full-time use. We've also delivered training to local authorities in the use of their compulsory purchase powers and we have a number of schemes to bring empty home properties back into beneficial use, including a system of grants and the lease scheme, and so on, for which, Llywydd, I refer many Members who've raised that today to my many previous statements on the subject, where we've outlined a large number of interventions that we're taking.

The First Minister and Adam Price also confirmed their commitment as part of the co-operation agreement to introduce a statutory licensing scheme for all visitor accommodation, and we will be bringing forward a consultation on our proposals in the coming months. The scheme will make it a requirement to obtain a licence to operate visitor accommodation, including short-term holiday lets, and will help raise standards across the tourism industry and improve data supporting future planning decisions. And just to address directly the contribution made by Janet and more extensively by Sam, obviously, we want people to come on holiday to Wales. Obviously, we want them to have second homes and to take advantage of holiday lets here, but what we want is a sustainable community. If you speak to people who come here who do have second homes or holiday lets, they don't want to come to a place where there's nobody living and there are no shops and pubs; they want to come to a thriving community and to experience that. So, this isn't about driving them out; it's about spreading them out and to make sure that we have sustainable communities in every area. So, I just want to make that abundantly clear. This isn't about not being welcoming; it's about making sure that the experience that people have when they come to Wales is a good one and it's a good one because we have a sustainable, thriving community using the Welsh language and bringing all of the cultural benefits that that brings. So, this isn't an anti agenda at all; it's a pro agenda—pro our effective communities and pro our cultures.

So, just to directly address the consultation on the draft Welsh language communities housing plan, as Mabon said, this is entirely my colleague Jeremy Miles's portfolio, but obviously, we work very closely together on this as they overlap considerably. At the National Eisteddfod, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language trailed some of the focus of his Welsh language communities housing plan. We're about to release details of that. Generally, though, the aim of the plan is to support Welsh-speaking communities that have high densities of second homes, bringing together issues relating to housing, community development, economy and language planning. At the Eisteddfod, the Minister also launched a commission for Welsh-speaking communities. They will undertake an in-depth study of the sustainability of Welsh-speaking communities, including the effects of high densities of second homes, and provide a report within two years. And yes, Mabon, of course that will include private rented sector and any other form of tenure; the idea being to have a fully mixed and fully sustainable community, able to continue using the Welsh language as they want.

We'll provide further updates, as per the committee's recommendation on the developments in the pilot area. Already, we've worked closely and effectively with Gwynedd Council and Grŵp Cynefin to amend the criteria and guidance for our homebuy scheme, for example. I've backed this up by making £8.5 million available over three years to help people get a foot on the housing ladder. This is already bearing fruit, and I look forward to a number of additional completions coming forward shortly. We've also established operational and strategic groups for the pilot and we are working with our partners to see how, for example, local authority mortgages can be beneficial in these difficult times. This is, again, a commitment as part of the co-operation agreement. The pilot is and will be a fertile testing ground for this and other interventions and the use of existing and new powers.

So, Llywydd, we are taking bold, pacy and immediate steps across a range of areas to address these complex issues in a concerted way, as we said we would. Again, I would like to thank the committee and those who gave evidence as part of its inquiry. The work really builds on our knowledge and understanding and it's very welcome indeed, so, diolch yn fawr. I and colleagues were very pleased to accept the committee's recommendations, which are appropriately stretching and will help add further to our understanding and commitment to address some of the issues in areas where we have unbalanced distributions of second homes and short-term lets. We will, of course, look forward to updating the Senedd, as we continue to make progress on this agenda and in fulfilling our commitment to responding practically to the recommendations.

Just very briefly, Llywydd, on housing supply, which I do not have time to cover here, I will be making a statement to the Senedd later on in this autumn term on house completions, which we will have the data for later on. There is, of course, and will remain work to do, but we are working flat out to ensure that we and local authorities in Wales have the right tools to better manage the mixed use of properties in our communities and that we have sustainable, thriving Welsh-speaking communities across Wales. Diolch yn fawr.