English: Can I thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate? I'm also pleased that I am no longer a lone voice raising housing concerns - we're talking about it more and more. Can I just say something in response to what Janet Finch-Saunders said? And I'm quite happy to be interrupted if what I say is wrong. I would say, unequivocally, that no-one wants landlords to increase rents. No-one wants that to happen. The major post-war solution to the housing crisis was to build council houses. It worked. I believe that this is still the best long-term solution. It, however, took 25 years post second world war to reach close to housing equilibrium. So, the mass building of council housing is not a quick fix. It's, however, the only long-term fix that will work, with the housing built being low energy, thus reducing the cost to the people living in those houses of energy costs, and helping to solve the other problem we've got, which is climate change. It's a win-win-win situation. I am, however, currently concerned that over 70 per cent of private rented households in Wales relying on universal credit to pay their rent have a shortfall between the amount they receive and the rent they pay. With local housing allowance having been frozen in cash terms since April last year, this proportion with a funding shortfall is set to increase still further, despite private rents in Wales increasing by much less than inflation. Private landlords aren't pushing up the rents, but what is happening is that local housing allowance is getting nowhere near meeting what is needed. Given the cost-of-living crisis, it's illogical and cruel to have a housing benefits system that fails to reflect the realities of private rents. UK Government needs urgently to unfreeze the local housing allowance and peg it to average rents in any given area. Without this, an increasing number of renters are going to struggle to pay their rent, eat and heat their homes - something is going to give. And if you go and see the queues in foodbanks, you can see one of the things that is giving. Many people, mainly working families, through no fault of their own, face a serious financial squeeze. There is no justification for continuing to fail to provide housing benefit support that provides the security of knowing that those relying on it can cover their rents. All it is doing is exacerbating the already serious cost-of-living crisis faced by many tenants across the country. Importantly, there is little evidence to suggest that increasing the local housing allowance would artificially inflate rents. As Ruth Ehrlich, policy manager at Shelter noted: 'We have not found any significant relationship between the proportion of people claiming LHA in a given area and rent inflation.' I call on the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to unfreeze the local housing rate, and I also call on the Welsh Government to make exactly the same demand of the Westminster Government. In 2021, as a response to the pandemic, the UK Government took the decision after many years to unfreeze the housing cost support element of universal credit, known as local housing allowance. It meant that it would cover the bottom 30 per cent of rental prices in any given area - nowhere near what it should be, but it was moving in the right direction. In his 2020 spending review, however, the Chancellor took the decision to once again freeze the LHA rate in cash terms from 1 April 2021. So, every year that goes on, 2 or 3 per cent more people end up not having enough. As rents increase, the fraction of properties that private renters in receipt of universal credit can afford will steadily decline. The amount of support that renters receive is linked not to current rents, but to those in 2019, which is three years back. It is little wonder that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has described the freeze as 'arbitrary and unfair'. I'd add another two words to it: unkind and unnecessary. The most recently available data from the Department for Work and Pensions shows that, as of November 2021, across Wales, almost 62,000, which is two thirds of the private rented houses on benefit, had a gap between their local housing allowance award and their monthly rent. How are they going to make that up? It's by turning the heating down, turning the heating off, not buying the tokens to pay for the heating and, more seriously, not getting food. And I've said this before, that people, mainly mothers, will just go hungry, because they haven't got enough food to feed themselves and their children, so their children come first. Is that the sort of society that we want? Is that the sort of society that the Conservatives wish to force on us? It should be noted that this is all happening - [ Interruption.] Yes, certainly.
Welsh: A gaf fi ddiolch i Blaid Cymru am gyflwyno'r ddadl hon? Rwyf hefyd yn falch nad fy llais i'n unig sy'n mynegi pryderon ynghylch tai mwyach - rydym yn siarad amdano fwy a mwy. A gaf fi ddweud rhywbeth mewn ymateb i'r hyn a ddywedodd Janet Finch-Saunders? Ac rwy'n fodlon derbyn ymyriad os yw'r hyn rwy'n ei ddweud yn anghywir. Hoffwn ddweud, yn ddiamwys, nad oes neb eisiau i landlordiaid godi rhenti. Nid oes neb eisiau i hynny ddigwydd. Y prif ateb ar ôl y rhyfel i'r argyfwng tai oedd adeiladu tai cyngor. Fe weithiodd. Rwy'n credu mai dyma'r ateb hirdymor gorau o hyd. Fodd bynnag, fe gymerodd 25 mlynedd ar ôl yr ail ryfel byd i gyrraedd yn agos at gydbwysedd o ran tai. Felly, nid yw adeiladu tai cyngor ar raddfa fawr yn ateb cyflym. Fodd bynnag, dyna'r unig ateb hirdymor a fydd yn gweithio, gyda'r tai a adeiladir yn rhai ynni isel, gan leihau costau ynni i'r bobl sy'n byw yn y tai hynny, a helpu i ddatrys y broblem arall sydd gennym, sef newid hinsawdd. Mae'n sefyllfa lle mae pawb ar eu hennill. Fodd bynnag, rwy'n bryderus ar hyn o bryd fod gan dros 70 y cant o aelwydydd rhent preifat yng Nghymru sy'n dibynnu ar gredyd cynhwysol i dalu eu rhent ddiffyg rhwng y swm a gânt a'r rhent y maent yn ei dalu. Gyda'r lwfans tai lleol wedi'i rewi yn nhermau arian parod ers mis Ebrill y llynedd, mae'r gyfran hon gyda'r diffyg ariannu yn mynd i gynyddu ymhellach eto, er bod rhenti preifat yng Nghymru wedi codi llawer llai na chwyddiant. Nid yw landlordiaid preifat yn gwthio'r rhent i fyny, ond yr hyn sy'n digwydd yw nad yw'r lwfans tai lleol yn dod yn agos at gyrraedd yr hyn sydd ei angen. O ystyried yr argyfwng costau byw, mae'n afresymegol ac yn greulon cael system budd-daliadau tai sy'n methu adlewyrchu realiti rhenti preifat. Mae angen i Lywodraeth y DU ddadrewi'r lwfans tai lleol ar fyrder a'i gysylltu â rhenti cyfartalog mewn unrhyw ardal benodol. Heb hyn, mae nifer cynyddol o rentwyr yn mynd i'w chael yn anodd talu eu rhent, bwyta a gwresogi eu cartrefi - bydd rhaid mynd heb rywbeth. Ac os ewch i weld y ciwiau mewn banciau bwyd, gallwch weld un o'r pethau y mae pobl yn mynd hebddo. Mae llawer o bobl, teuluoedd sy'n gweithio yn bennaf, heb unrhyw fai arnynt hwy, yn wynebu gwasgfa ariannol ddifrifol. Nid oes unrhyw gyfiawnhad dros barhau i fethu darparu cymorth budd-dal tai sy'n rhoi sicrwydd o wybod y gall y rhai sy'n dibynnu arno dalu eu rhenti. Y cyfan y mae'n ei wneud yw gwaethygu'r argyfwng costau byw sydd eisoes yn ddifrifol y mae llawer o denantiaid ledled y wlad yn ei wynebu. Yn bwysig, ychydig o dystiolaeth a geir i awgrymu y byddai cynyddu'r lwfans tai lleol yn chwyddo rhenti yn artiffisial. Fel y nododd Ruth Ehrlich, rheolwr polisi gyda Shelter: 'Nid ydym wedi canfod unrhyw berthynas arwyddocaol rhwng cyfran y bobl sy'n hawlio lwfans tai lleol mewn ardal benodol a chwyddo rhenti.' Galwaf ar y Canghellor a'r Ysgrifennydd Gwladol dros Waith a Phensiynau i ddadrewi'r gyfradd tai leol, a galwaf hefyd ar Lywodraeth Cymru i alw am yr un peth gan Lywodraeth San Steffan. Yn 2021, mewn ymateb i'r pandemig, wedi blynyddoedd lawer, penderfynodd Llywodraeth y DU ddadrewi elfen cymorth cost tai y credyd cynhwysol, a elwir yn lwfans tai lleol. Golygai y byddai'n talu'r 30 y cant isaf o brisiau rhent mewn unrhyw ardal benodol - heb fod yn agos at yr hyn a ddylai fod, ond roedd yn symud i'r cyfeiriad cywir. Yn ei adolygiad o wariant yn 2020, fodd bynnag, unwaith eto penderfynodd y Canghellor rewi cyfradd y lwfans tai lleol yn nhermau arian parod o 1 Ebrill 2021. Felly, bob blwyddyn sy'n mynd heibio, ceir 2 neu 3 y cant yn fwy o bobl nad ydynt yn cael digon. Wrth i renti godi, bydd y gyfran o'r eiddo y gall rhentwyr preifat sy'n cael credyd cynhwysol ei fforddio yn gostwng yn raddol. Mae swm y cymorth y bydd rhentwyr yn ei gael yn gysylltiedig â lefel y rhenti yn 2019, dair blynedd yn ôl, nid rhenti presennol. Nid yw'n syndod fod y Sefydliad Astudiaethau Cyllid wedi disgrifio'r rhewi fel cam 'mympwyol ac annheg'. Byddwn yn ychwanegu dau air arall at hynny: angharedig a diangen. Mae'r data diweddaraf sydd ar gael gan yr Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau yn dangos, ym mis Tachwedd 2021, ledled Cymru, fod gan bron i 62,000, sef dwy ran o dair o'r tai rhent preifat sy'n cael budd-dal, fwlch rhwng eu dyfarniad lwfans tai lleol a'u rhent misol. Sut y gallant ddod o hyd i'r diffyg? Drwy ostwng y gwres, diffodd y gwres, peidio â phrynu'r tocynnau i dalu am y gwres ac yn fwy difrifol, mynd heb fwyd. Ac rwyf wedi dweud hyn o'r blaen, y bydd pobl, mamau yn bennaf, yn mynd heb fwyd, oherwydd nad oes ganddynt ddigon o fwyd i fwydo eu hunain a'u plant, felly eu plant sy'n dod yn gyntaf. Ai dyna'r math o gymdeithas rydym ei heisiau? Ai dyna'r math o gymdeithas y mae'r Ceidwadwyr eisiau ei gorfodi arnom? Dylid nodi bod hyn i gyd yn digwydd - [ Torri ar draws. ] Yn sicr.