I also declare an interest that’s on the public record as well.

Colleagues, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It was a pleasure to be part of the inquiry, and I thank the Chair for his leadership during this inquiry.

It was a timely inquiry, and it demonstrates a cross-party consensus. There is a recognition here that our rural and coastal communities are in the midst of a housing crisis, and that second homes contribute significantly to that. There is also acknowledgement here of the need to take action to tackle this, and of the action that should be taken.

And I see that crisis daily in my constituency in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, from Aberdyfi to Abersoch, from Beddgelert to Llandderfel. Good people have been campaigning and drawing attention to this issue for half a century, and now, at last, the issue is receiving the recognition it deserves and the Government, by working together with us in Plaid Cymru, is presenting solutions. 

The sad truth, of course, is that many of our communities have lost a large part of their character; they have become soulless and empty communities, with public services becoming more remote and people moving away. There is hope, however: look at the small village of Rhyd near Llanfrothen, which was once a village full of holiday homes, but has now been regenerated. We should not, therefore, give up on hope.

I think that the committee's experience in this regard is quite unique for the Senedd, because we started our work before the Government announced its various consultations and then the changes that are in the offing. But, this action by the Government, as part of the co-operation agreement with us in Plaid Cymru, is very welcome, and it was interesting to follow the trajectory of the proposals by the Government as we undertook our consultation.

Consider the steps now in place: increasing the land transaction tax; modifying the planning system in order to introduce a change of use for these homes, which will mean that authorities can control the number of second homes in our communities; a licensing system for short-term holiday lets. All of these and more are things that we in Plaid Cymru have been advocating for years, and now they are being implemented. Thank goodness for that.

This report from the committee talks about the work that is going on in Dwyfor and in the Gwynedd area. But, I would like to know from the Minister what plans there are to ensure that these plans continue into the long term, in view of the economic challenges facing local authorities, and also what steps are being taken to ensure that other areas, such as Pembrokeshire, Anglesey and Swansea, can implement these actions.

This discussion today is timely in the context of the Bevan Foundation report that was released last week, looking at the impact of Airbnb on our communities. You know that I have been raising this issue for some time, and I have been arguing that this is what is undermining the self-catering sector. The evidence from the Bevan Foundation is testimony of that, and is frightening. At the end of spring this year, 22,000 homes in Wales were registered on that platform, with almost 60 per cent of them on the Airbnb platform suitable for people to live in.

As a percentage of the private housing stock, that is much greater, with Airbnb homes equating to a third of Gwynedd's private housing stock, and a fifth of Anglesey and Ceredigion's private housing stock. This puts enormous pressure on the rental sector in these areas, with rental values being driven up, and fewer homes for rent on the market. Indeed, the report states that it would take just six weeks for an owner to make the same amount of money on a four-bedroom house through Airbnb as the owner could make by renting the house out locally on the local housing allowance scale. The system has been set up, therefore, to ensure that the greatest financial value is extracted at the expense of putting a permanent roof over people's heads.

This also reminds us of what my colleague Rhun ap Iorwerth has raised several times, namely the case of the Bodorgan estate, which is going through a process of evicting people with the intention of turning those homes into holiday homes, adding to the homelessness crisis. Rhun, as we know, has done everything within his ability to help those people, but it shows that there is a great need for action.

Recommendations 11 and 12 of the report are therefore very important, namely the impact of this on Welsh-speaking communities. Therefore, although it's the environment Minister who will be responding, as Welsh-speaking communities are under the remit of the education Minister, I wonder whether the Minister for the environment could confirm whether the commission on Welsh-speaking communities will be looking at the challenges facing home renters as well as home buyers in those communities. Thank you very much.