English: Can I thank Plaid Cymru for bringing forward today's really important debate on the private rented sector? I was really pleased that, on these benches, we were able to support the vast majority of the proposals that you've put forward today. But, of course, we aren't able to support point 6. In our proposal, we propose to delete that, which is obviously in relation to the freeze on rents in the private sector. But, I am really pleased that we also have been able to provide some alternative solutions to some of the challenges that are out there at the moment, and I will be exploring those a little bit further in my contribution today. First of all, I would just like to come onto the point that Mabon ap Gwynfor mentioned in his opening, which is about some of the unintended consequences around a rent freeze. As we've seen in Scotland, where those rent freezes have already been introduced, this has already provided some unintended and negative consequences for tenants and for those seeking to rent property, because the supply of rental housing is reducing whilst demand is growing. Indeed, Scotland's largest house builder has now announced that they are going to halt investment in the private rental sector, partly because of these measures. Also on unintended consequences, in Ireland, where, as mentioned, there are already forms of rent control in place, we've seen recently chaotic photographs on social media of hundreds of people queuing up to try to get hold of rental properties in places like Dublin at the moment. So, clearly, it's not the panacea to solve everything, certainly, at the moment. The other point that Mabon ap Gwynfor highlighted in opening, which others have mentioned as we've gone through this evening, is the mismatch between supply and demand on privately rented houses. It's quite clear that a rent freeze would do nothing at all to address supply and demand challenges. So, it's really important and, whilst it might be easier to try to dismiss some of the unintended consequences, they are very real if a rent freeze is something that Government wanted to support and progress with. As is outlined in amendment 2 today of our proposals, local authorities are being faced with some spiralling costs of temporary accommodation, and there are some significant challenges there that need to be addressed. It struck me that the Welsh Government actually provided local authorities with around £10 million of the COVID tenancy hardship grant scheme, but only 2.3 per cent of that money was actually ever used. So, I wonder, as a quick fix to help in the immediate term, if the Welsh Government could consider using the significant underspend on supporting those who are struggling fairly immediately. There is a key role that our councils can play in helping to tackle some of these challenges. We know that empty homes in Wales are a significant issue; we know that there are more empty homes than there are second homes in Wales. So, we propose that there should be more work done to promote the empty home loan scheme, to make sure more empty homes are being returned into occupied homes. There's a real opportunity there to make a quick difference. The other issue I'd like to touch on today has already been mentioned, actually; it comes back to this supply and demand issue around seeing more houses being built. It's already been mentioned that there needs to be around 12,000 homes built in Wales every single year, and those numbers are never even getting close in Wales at the moment. That is across all of Wales. It's a fairly simple equation in some ways: more homes enable fewer people to be homeless; it's not rocket science. We have to look at what is causing not enough homes to be built in Wales to meet demand. Because we know -
Welsh: A gaf fi ddiolch i Blaid Cymru am gyflwyno trafodaeth bwysig iawn heddiw ar y sector rhentu preifat? Roeddwn yn falch iawn ein bod, ar y meinciau hyn, yn gallu cefnogi'r mwyafrif llethol o'r cynigion a gyflwynwyd gennych heddiw. Ond wrth gwrs, nid ydym yn gallu cefnogi pwynt 6. Yn ein cynnig, rydym yn bwriadu dileu hwnnw, sy'n amlwg yn ymwneud â rhewi rhenti yn y sector preifat. Ond rwy'n falch iawn ein bod hefyd wedi gallu darparu atebion amgen i rai o'r heriau sy'n ein hwynebu ar hyn o bryd, a byddaf yn archwilio'r rheini ymhellach yn fy nghyfraniad heddiw. Yn gyntaf oll, hoffwn drafod y pwynt y soniodd Mabon ap Gwynfor amdano yn ei agoriad, sef rhai o'r canlyniadau anfwriadol mewn perthynas â rhewi rhenti. Fel y gwelsom yn Yr Alban, lle maent wedi cyflwyno mesurau rhewi rhenti, mae hyn eisoes wedi arwain at ganlyniadau anfwriadol a negyddol i denantiaid ac i'r rhai sy'n ceisio rhentu eiddo, oherwydd bod y cyflenwad o dai rhent yn lleihau tra bod y galw'n cynyddu. Yn wir, mae adeiladwr tai mwyaf yr Alban bellach wedi cyhoeddi eu bod yn mynd i atal buddsoddiad yn y sector rhentu preifat, yn rhannol oherwydd y mesurau hyn. Hefyd ar ganlyniadau anfwriadol, yn Iwerddon, lle ceir ffurfiau ar reoli rhenti ar waith eisoes fel y crybwyllwyd, gwelsom luniau ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol yn ddiweddar o gannoedd o bobl yn ciwio i geisio cael gafael ar eiddo rhent mewn llefydd fel Dulyn ar hyn o bryd. Felly, yn amlwg, nid yw'n ateb pob problem ar hyn o bryd, yn sicr. Y pwynt arall y cyfeiriodd Mabon ap Gwynfor ato wrth agor y ddadl, ac mae eraill wedi sôn amdano heno, yw'r anghysondeb rhwng cyflenwad a galw mewn perthynas â thai rhentu preifat. Mae'n gwbl glir na fyddai rhewi rhenti'n gwneud dim byd o gwbl i fynd i'r afael â heriau cyflenwad a galw. Felly, mae'n bwysig iawn, ac er y gallai fod yn haws ceisio diystyru rhai o'r canlyniadau anfwriadol, maent yn real iawn os yw rhewi rhenti yn rhywbeth y mae'r Llywodraeth eisiau ei gefnogi a bwrw ymlaen ag ef. Fel yr amlinellir yn ngwelliant 2 o'n cynigion heddiw, mae awdurdodau lleol yn wynebu costau cynyddol llety dros dro, a cheir heriau sylweddol y mae angen mynd i'r afael â hwy. Cefais fy nharo gan y ffaith bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn darparu oddeutu £10 miliwn o'r cynllun COVID, y grant caledi i denantiaid, i awdurdodau lleol, ond 2.3 y cant yn unig o'r arian hwnnw a ddefnyddiwyd erioed. Felly, tybed, fel ateb cyflym i helpu ar unwaith, a fyddai Llywodraeth Cymru yn ystyried defnyddio'r tanwariant sylweddol i gefnogi'r rhai sy'n ei chael hi'n anodd bron ar unwaith. Mae rôl allweddol y gall ein cynghorau ei chwarae yn helpu i fynd i'r afael â rhai o'r heriau hyn. Gwyddom fod tai gwag yng Nghymru'n broblem sylweddol; rydym yn gwybod bod mwy o dai gwag nag a geir o ail gartrefi yng Nghymru. Felly, rydym yn argymell y dylid gwneud mwy o waith i hyrwyddo'r cynllun benthyciadau cartrefi gwag er mwyn sicrhau bod mwy o dai gwag yn cael eu troi'n ôl yn gartrefi i bobl fyw ynddynt. Mae cyfle go iawn yno i wneud gwahaniaeth cyflym. Mae'r mater arall yr hoffwn gyffwrdd arno heddiw eisoes wedi'i grybwyll mewn gwirionedd; daw'n ôl at gyflenwad a galw mewn perthynas ag adeiladu mwy o dai. Mae wedi cael ei grybwyll yn barod fod angen adeiladu tua 12,000 o gartrefi yng Nghymru bob blwyddyn, ac nid ydym yn agos at y niferoedd hynny yng Nghymru ar hyn o bryd. Mae hynny ar draws Cymru gyfan. Mae'n hafaliad eithaf syml mewn rhai ffyrdd: mae mwy o gartrefi yn golygu y bydd llai o bobl yn ddigartref; nid yw'n gymhleth. Rhaid inni ystyried pam nad oes digon o gartrefi yn cael eu hadeiladu yng Nghymru i ateb y galw. Oherwydd fe wyddom -