So, there you have it: solid proof from Conwy county that your legislation is a key factor in the increase that we're now seeing in the use of temporary accommodation. I've got to be honest, I've said it before, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru should be ashamed that they are now making people homeless. These regulations today will make the situation worse. 

One of the implications of the amendment is that the six-month minimum notice period for a landlord's notice, which is already required in relation to new periodic standard contracts, is extended to converted periodic standard contracts, with effect from 1 June 2023. In reality, six months will mean 12 months, because you've got organisations, such as Shelter Cymru, telling people to stay put after that six-month period—it's two months at the moment; well, it has been two months—telling them to stay put until the bailiffs are implemented by the court, and then even then, telling them to stay put for longer periods of time. Based on the number of properties registered with Rent Smart Wales, this could now see as many as 200,000 converted contracts changing from being subject to a six instead of two-month notice period. Is this Parliament really prepared to take the risk of making as many as 200,000 households homeless? I find it extraordinary that one of the reasons given for the six-month requirement in the explanatory memorandum is as follows:

'there has been a dramatic increase in demand for temporary accommodation in the wake of the pandemic, placing an unprecedented level of demand on local authority homelessness services, with over 26,500 people supported into temporary accommodation since March 2020.'

There is some support for the proposal from landlords and letting agents, however, the vast majority are opposed. Many consultees suggest that the proposal might encourage—and is, in fact, now encouraging landlords to leave the private sector. If we want to get a handle on the housing crisis in Wales, we've got to reduce the risk of increased homelessness. Your Government should actually be building the houses and should have built them in years gone by.

My colleague, Mark Isherwood, who has also held the portfolio for housing previously, has been made aware that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act now, whilst some people, like the Welsh Women's Aid, acknowledge some of the many positive elements of the Act, they have serious concerns about the potentially catastrophic impact of the Act in its current form on Welsh specialist violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence services and by extension, on their survivors.