English: Thank you very much. Thank you for bringing this issue to the Assembly's attention. I'm very pleased to be able to participate in this debate. At the outset, I want to refer to one example - just one example but one that's quite complex and demonstrates the problems in this area, and one I'm very familiar with in my constituency. I want to mention a block of flats built for people over the age of 55, which were sold with leaseholds attached. Most of those who purchased those flats are now in their 80s and 90s. At the outset, a residents' association was established in the flats, but as the residents grow older nobody now takes responsibility for being on the committee, and this association that used to work for the benefit of the residents has now lapsed. Some four years ago, the lease was sold to a company located a long way from my constituency. The company is based in the Channel Islands, and they now own the lease on the flats. This company has two levels of management and it's very difficult to communicate with them. The costs for the residents have increased swiftly. The outside of the flats were redecorated at a cost of £100,000. The work was of a poor standard and the roof is leaking in one of the flats. The company that holds the lease - that's the company in the Channel Islands and their agent - makes all of the decisions, and, of course, it's the residents who have to pay the bills. Any attempt to challenge the decisions has to be made by individuals because the residents' association came to an end. I don't need to tell you that their efforts aren't getting much success. That's just one example of how leaseholds can create great anguish, and this trend for more and more developers to sell homes on leasehold is an increasing cause for concern. Some purchasers do get 999-year-long leaseholds - a very long time, one would think, which possibly may actually alleviate some of the anxiety at the beginning of the process - but discover later that buying the freehold is exceptionally expensive. One trap for these buyers is the increase in ground rent, which is hidden in the small print of these long leasehold contracts. At the outset, it looks affordable and the contract says that the ground rent will double every 10 years. That can look innocuous, after all most people move house every seven to 10 years or so. But for the company buying the leasehold, the income is very valuable and doubling something every 10 years very soon makes it profitable, and before long it's impossible for the residents to afford the ground rent, and therefore it's virtually impossible to sell the home, with solicitors warning prospective buyers to stay away. So, young people, after years of paying rent, at last buy a house and then find themselves still, in reality, being tenants, because that's what a leaseholder is ultimately, with all the disbenefits attached to that. I'm going to use this debate to draw attention to just a few other problems that have emerged in terms of newer housing developments - I hope you'll forgive me for doing so, and to stray a little off topic, but they are certainly related. Recently, the cross-party parliamentary group on excellence in the built environment - which is a long and complex title - published a report on the quality of housing that were new builds across the UK. This report discovered that 93 per cent of buyers mentioned problems to the construction companies, and of those, 35 per cent mentioned 11 or more problems. These are problems that the buyers have to pay to put right - a matter for our consideration in the same context, therefore. Another problem is the number of housing estates the length and breadth of Wales that are unfinished. What happens very often is that a developer will take more than a decade from when the first house is sold to the time when the final house is sold and completed. In the meantime, residents face problems with rubbish collections, no social facilities available and so on, and as we will see in a debate that's to take place next week, roads remaining unadopted. This is all before you start to think about other related issues, such as land banking, for example, where there is no intention at all to bring a project to conclusion, and also a lack of community infrastructure for these new developments. So, there are a number of related problems there, and as far as I can see, there is a fundamental problem that we're facing here: since the financial crash 10 years ago, fewer companies are involved in the market and they are larger companies and therefore there is less competition. This, ultimately, is damaging for house owners and gives unfair advantages to these large companies when it comes to the matter of funding new developments, getting planning permission, public procurement, and so on. Therefore, I would encourage the Welsh Government to consider these issues too when you are seeking ways of dealing with the issue of leaseholds, because it is part of a wider range of problems emerging from less competition in the house-building sector. Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr. Diolch am ddod â'r pwnc yma at sylw'r Cynulliad. Rwy'n falch iawn i fedru cymryd rhan yn y ddadl. Ar y cychwyn, rydw i'n mynd i nodi un enghraifft - un yn unig ond un eithaf dyrys ac un sydd yn dangos y problemau, ac un rydw i'n gyfarwydd iawn â hi yn fy etholaeth i. Rydw i am sôn am floc o fflatiau gafodd ei adeiladu ar gyfer pobl dros 55 oed ac roedd y rhain yn cael eu gwerthu efo prydlesi ynghlwm wrthyn nhw. Mae'r rhan fwyaf o'r bobl wnaeth brynu'r fflatiau bellach yn eu 80au a'u 90au. Ar y cychwyn, fe sefydlwyd cymdeithas preswylwyr yn y fflatiau, ond wrth i'r trigolion heneiddio nid oes neb bellach yn derbyn y cyfrifoldeb o fod ar y pwyllgor ac mae'r gymdeithas yma, a oedd yn arfer gweithio ar ran y trigolion, wedi dod i ben. Tua phedair blynedd yn ôl, fe werthwyd y les i gwmni a oedd yn bell i ffwrdd o fy etholaeth i. Cwmni yn y Channel Isles sydd bellach yn berchen y brydles, ac mae gan y cwmni yma ddwy haen o reolwyr ac mae'n anodd iawn cyfathrebu efo nhw. Mae costau ar gyfer y trigolion wedi cynyddu yn gyflym. Fe gafodd y tu allan i'r bloc fflatiau ei ailaddurno a'r gost oedd dros £100,000. Roedd y gwaith o ansawdd gwael ac mae'r to yn gollwng mewn un fflat. Y cwmni sy'n dal y les - y cwmni yn Ynysoedd y Sianel a'u hasiant - sy'n gwneud y penderfyniadau i gyd ac, wrth gwrs, y trigolion sy'n gorfod talu'r biliau. Mae unrhyw ymgais i herio'r penderfyniadau yn gorfod cael eu gwneud gan unigolion, oherwydd bod y gymdeithas preswylwyr wedi dod i ben. Nid oes rhaid dweud nad ydy eu hymdrechion nhw yn cael llawer o lwyddiant. Dyna un enghraifft o sut mae prydlesi yn gallu achosi loes fawr, ac mae'r duedd yma i fwy a mwy o ddatblygwyr werthu tai fel rhai ar brydles yn peri pryder cynyddol. Mae rhai prynwyr yn cael prydlesi 999 o flynyddoedd o hyd - amser hir byddai rhywun yn meddwl, sydd, o bosib, yn tawelu eu meddyliau ar gychwyn proses - ond yn darganfod yn nes ymlaen fod prynu'r rhydd-ddaliad yn arswydus o ddrud. Un trap i'r prynwyr yma ydy'r codiad mewn rhent daear sydd wedi'i guddio ym mhrint mân y prydlesi hir, ac ar y dechrau mae'n edrych yn fforddiadwy, a'r contract yn dweud y bydd y rhent daear yn dyblu bob 10 mlynedd. Mae hynny'n gallu edrych yn eithaf diniwed, wedi'r cyfan mae'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn symud tŷ bob rhyw saith i 10 mlynedd. Ond i'r cwmni sy'n prynu'r rhydd-ddaliad, mae'r incwm yn werthfawr ac mae dyblu rhywbeth bob 10 mlynedd yn fuan iawn yn ei wneud o yn broffidiol, a chyn hir nid oes modd i'r preswylwyr fforddio'r rhent daear, ac felly mae bron yn amhosib gwerthu'r tŷ gyda chyfreithwyr yn rhybuddio darpar-brynwyr i gadw draw. Felly, mae pobl ifanc, wedi blynyddoedd o dalu rhent, o'r diwedd yn prynu tŷ ac yn darganfod eu bod nhw, mewn gwirionedd, yn dal yn denantiaid, oherwydd dyna ydy prydleswr yn y pen draw, efo'r holl anfanteision sydd ynghlwm efo hynny. Rydw i'n mynd i ddefnyddio'r ddadl yma i dynnu sylw at un neu ddau o broblemau eraill sydd wedi dod i'r fei ynghylch datblygiadau tai mwy newydd - gobeithio y gwnewch chi faddau i fi am wneud hyn, a chrwydro ychydig bach oddi ar y pwnc, ond eto, maen nhw'n gysylltiedig. Yn ddiweddar, fe gyhoeddodd y grŵp seneddol amlbleidiol ar ragoriaeth yn yr amgylchedd adeiledig - teitl hir, cymhleth - adroddiad ar ansawdd tai a oedd wedi cael eu codi o'r newydd ar draws y Deyrnas Gyfunol. Roedd yr adroddiad yma'n ffeindio bod 93 y cant o brynwyr yn sôn am broblemau wrth eu hadeiladwyr, ac o'r rheini, 35 y cant yn sôn am 11 neu fwy o broblemau, a phroblemau ydy'r rhain y mae'r prynwyr yn gorfodi talu amdanynt i'w hunioni - mater, efallai, i ni ei ystyried yn yr un cyd-destun â hyn, felly. Problem arall ydy'r nifer o stadau tai ar hyd a lled Cymru sydd heb gael eu gorffen. Yr hyn sy'n digwydd yn aml ydy bod datblygwr yn cymryd dros ddegawd o amser o bryd y gwerthwyd y tŷ cyntaf i'r adeg y mae'r tŷ olaf yn cael ei werthu, ac yn y cyfamser bydd y trigolion yn wynebu problemau efo casglu sbwriel, dim cyfleusterau cymdeithasol ar gael ac yn y blaen, ac fel y gwelwn ni mewn dadl wythnos nesaf, ffyrdd heb gael eu mabwysiadu. Mae hyn i gyd cyn dechrau meddwl am faterion eraill cysylltiedig - bancio tir, er enghraifft, lle nad oes yna fwriad o gwbl i ddod â phrosiect i ben, a hefyd diffyg seilwaith cymunedol i'r datblygiadau newydd yma. Felly, mae nifer o broblemau eraill cysylltiedig, a hyd y gwelaf i, mae yna broblem sylfaenol i'w wynebu fan hyn: ers y chwalfa ariannol 10 mlynedd yn ôl, mae yna lai o gwmnïau yn y farchnad, a rheini'n gwmnïau mawr, ac felly mae yna lai o gystadleuaeth. Mae hyn, yn y pen draw, wrth gwrs, yn niweidio defnyddwyr a hefyd yn rhoi mantais annheg i'r cwmnïau mawr yma pan ddaw hi'n fater o gyllido datblygiadau newydd, cael caniatâd cynllunio, caffael cyhoeddus, ac yn y blaen. Felly, buaswn i'n annog Llywodraeth Cymru i ystyried y materion yma hefyd pan fyddwch chi yn chwilio am ffyrdd i fynd i'r afael â mater prydlesi, gan fod o'n rhan o gyfres ehangach o bryderon sydd yn deillio o lai o gystadleuaeth yn y sector adeiladu tai. Diolch.