English: My Plaid Cymru colleagues have set out the risks and outcomes of a failing housing support system. Another factor at play when it comes to housing support and homelessness is the housing market and supply. When it comes to the housing market, renters are truly at the bottom of the pile, and therefore their homelessness risk increases. Prospective renters are continually required to jump through more and more hoops, completely at odds with the premise of the right to a home. A significant amount of often prohibitive requirements are put in place by landlords before they allow a prospective tenant to rent their property, such as deposits and guarantors, minimum income requirements, extensive credit checks, references and rent upfront. These requirements act as a barrier to many low-income renters, which, in turn, lowers the pool of available housing. A third of surveyed properties had such requirements. When you take the 3.8 per cent covered by the local housing authority and add these requirements, only about 2.1 per cent of properties are covered by local housing authorities with excessive requirements. That's one in 50 properties you can access as a low-income tenant. Beyond the problems faced by renters are those that exist in houses in multiple occupation. Issues surrounding housing provision can exacerbate personal challenges for anyone, but first-hand testimony and corroborating research highlight that HMOs house a disproportionate number of people with multiple and complex needs. Many tenants highlight mental health challenges at the centre of their needs, either compounded or caused by adverse life experiences. They are more likely to have negative housing experiences, confusion over payments, debt to landlords, and safety concerns related to criminal activity within HMOs chief among them. HMO landlords and owners demonstrate very little duty of care in relation to tenants' welfare. Where support is available, it often comes from informal networks or voluntary sector organisations. It has long been recognised that residential environments are a key determinant of well-being, with literature from a broad range of disciplines evidencing a link between housing and health outcomes. Furthermore, because of the punitive pre-tenancy checks conducted by landlords, it is highly probable that this worsens an already prevalent issue, which is the under-reporting of mental ill health. Time to Change Wales in 2016 found that one in 10 people surveyed believed that individuals with mental health problems are less trustworthy than people without such issues. A 2010 poll by YouGov, also commissioned by Time to Change, found that 66 per cent of people surveyed in Wales would not rent a room in a shared flat to someone with a mental health condition. It seems to me that we need to develop narratives of understanding and compassion to challenge the culture of stigmatisation. There are some real structural issues to overcome. This type of accommodation cannot be a lasting solution to the lack of housing supply, but it is an obvious consequence. There is opportunism and profiteering, but, ultimately, it is the conditions created largely by Government policy that have created a climate for this to thrive. The supply of new units of social housing remains lower than it was in the 1990s, most of the 1980s and substantially lower than the second part of the 1970s. This reflects successive Governments' lack of willingness to invest in new social housing over the period. There are 67,000 households currently on housing waiting lists across Wales. An essential step in solving the housing crisis in Wales is a massive increase in housing supply, led by the public not private sector. Publicly built housing should become a mainstream option for those on average incomes, not just those on lower incomes. I look forward with eagerness to see what Unnos, the national construction company born from the co-operation agreement, can achieve. Hopefully, the investment in a public housing programme that produces better quality, greener homes can set us on a path to see an end to the housing crisis and also alleviate other pressures arising from poor health, poor mental health and poverty. Diolch yn fawr.
Welsh: Mae fy nghyd-Aelodau ym Mhlaid Cymru wedi nodi risgiau a chanlyniadau system cymorth tai sy'n methu. Ffactor arall sydd ar waith gyda chymorth tai a digartrefedd yw'r farchnad dai a'r cyflenwad tai. Gyda'r farchnad dai, mae rhentwyr ar waelod y domen, ac felly mae eu risg o ddigartrefedd yn cynyddu. Mae gofyn i ddarpar rentwyr fynd drwy un felin ar ôl y llall yn ddiddiwedd, sy'n gwbl groes i'r syniad o hawl i gartref. Mae landlordiaid yn gosod nifer sylweddol o ofynion sy'n aml yn waharddol cyn iddynt ganiatáu i ddarpar denant rentu eu heiddo, megis blaendaliadau a gwarantwyr, gofynion isafswm incwm, gwiriadau credyd helaeth, geirdaon a rhenti ymlaen llaw. Mae'r gofynion hyn yn rhwystr i lawer o rentwyr incwm isel, sydd, yn ei dro, yn lleihau'r gronfa o dai sydd ar gael. Roedd gan draean o'r eiddo a arolygwyd ofynion o'r fath. Pan fyddwch yn ystyried y 3.8 y cant sy'n cael eu cwmpasu gan lwfans yr awdurdod tai lleol ac yn ychwanegu'r gofynion hyn, dim ond oddeutu 2.1 y cant o eiddo sy'n cael ei gwmpasu gan lwfans awdurdodau tai lleol o ystyried y gofynion gormodol. Golyga hynny mai un o bob 50 eiddo y gallwch gael mynediad ato fel tenant incwm isel. Yn ychwanegol at y problemau a wynebir gan rentwyr, ceir y rheini sy'n bodoli mewn tai amlfeddiannaeth. Gall materion sy'n ymwneud â darpariaeth tai waethygu heriau personol i unrhyw un, ond mae tystiolaeth uniongyrchol ac ymchwil ategol yn nodi bod nifer anghymesur o bobl ag anghenion lluosog a chymhleth yn byw mewn tai amlfeddiannaeth. Mae llawer o denantiaid yn nodi bod heriau iechyd meddwl wrth wraidd eu hanghenion, naill ai wedi'u gwaethygu neu wedi'u hachosi gan brofiadau bywyd niweidiol. Maent yn fwy tebygol o gael profiadau negyddol o ran tai, dryswch ynghylch taliadau, dyled i landlordiaid, a phryderon diogelwch yn ymwneud â gweithgarwch troseddol mewn tai amlfeddiannaeth yn fwyaf amlwg. Ychydig iawn o ddyletswydd gofal sydd gan landlordiaid a pherchnogion tai amlfeddiannaeth mewn perthynas â lles tenantiaid. Lle mae cymorth ar gael, yn aml caiff ei roi drwy rwydweithiau anffurfiol neu sefydliadau sector gwirfoddol. Ceir cydnabyddiaeth ers tro fod amgylcheddau preswyl yn benderfynydd lles allweddol, gyda llenyddiaeth o ystod eang o ddisgyblaethau yn dangos tystiolaeth o gysylltiad rhwng tai a chanlyniadau iechyd. Yn ychwanegol at hynny, oherwydd y gwiriadau cyn-denantiaeth cosbol a wneir gan landlordiaid, mae'n debygol iawn fod hyn yn gwaethygu mater sydd eisoes yn gyffredin, sef tangofnodi salwch meddwl. Canfu Amser i Newid Cymru yn 2016 fod un o bob 10 o'r bobl a holwyd yn credu bod unigolion â phroblemau iechyd meddwl yn llai dibynadwy na phobl heb broblemau o'r fath. Canfu arolwg barn yn 2010 gan YouGov, a gomisiynwyd hefyd gan Amser i Newid, na fyddai 66 y cant o'r bobl a arolygwyd yng Nghymru yn gosod ystafell mewn fflat a rennir i rywun â chyflwr iechyd meddwl. Ymddengys i mi fod angen inni ddatblygu naratifau cydymdeimladol a thosturiol i herio'r diwylliant o stigmateiddio. Mae rhai problemau strwythurol gwirioneddol i'w goresgyn. Ni all y math hwn o lety fod yn ateb parhaol i'r diffyg cyflenwad tai, ond mae'n ganlyniad amlwg. Ceir manteisiaeth a gorelwa, ond yn y pen draw, yr amodau a grëwyd yn bennaf gan bolisi Llywodraeth sydd wedi creu'r hinsawdd i hyn allu ffynnu. Mae'r cyflenwad o unedau tai cymdeithasol newydd yn dal i fod is na'r hyn ydoedd yn y 1990au, y rhan fwyaf o'r 1980au ac yn sylweddol is nag ail ran y 1970au. Mae hyn yn adlewyrchu diffyg parodrwydd Llywodraethau olynol i fuddsoddi mewn tai cymdeithasol newydd dros y cyfnod hwn. Mae 67,000 o aelwydydd ar restrau aros am dai ledled Cymru ar hyn o bryd. Cam hanfodol i ddatrys yr argyfwng tai yng Nghymru yw cynnydd aruthrol yn y cyflenwad tai, dan arweiniad y sector cyhoeddus, nid y sector preifat. Dylai tai a adeiledir yn gyhoeddus ddod yn opsiwn prif ffrwd ar gyfer pobl ar incwm cyfartalog, nid pobl ar incwm is yn unig. Edrychaf ymlaen yn eiddgar at weld yr hyn y gall Unnos, y cwmni adeiladu cenedlaethol a sefydlwyd o ganlyniad i'r cytundeb cydweithio, ei gyflawni. Rwy'n gobeithio y gall y buddsoddiad mewn rhaglen dai cyhoeddus sy'n cynhyrchu cartrefi gwyrddach o ansawdd gwell ein rhoi ar lwybr tuag at ddiwedd yr argyfwng tai, yn ogystal â lliniaru pwysau arall sy'n deillio o iechyd gwael, iechyd meddwl gwael a thlodi. Diolch yn fawr.