English: Thank you very much for those comments. It might be helpful if I returned to the issue of what we've learned from the Scottish legislation in terms of our approach here in Wales. It is a fact that rents did rise in the first 12 months following the introduction of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011. That amended the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, which I previously referred to, and it essentially banned all charges made to tenants other than rent and a refundable deposit. However, the evidence that rents rose directly as a result of the change in the law isn't conclusive, and that issue, as I said, was examined by a House of Commons inquiry into the private rented sector in Scotland in March 2015. That was unable to find strong enough evidence to explain such an increase. The committee did identify wider factors as having a possible influence on the increase, including population changes and a lack of supply of properties in the private rented sector. The operation of the market at the time - so, the numbers of agents operating, the length of tenancy, changes in how agents were operating, rules around deposit protection, and increased health and safety standards - were all considered to be relevant considerations as well, and they couldn't be disentangled from the 2011 Act. So, I'm sure that the experiences in Scotland and the legislation that is currently making its way through the process in England will be something that committees will want to scrutinise. But, it is - just to reassure Members - the case that we've also been looking very closely at both the Scottish experience and the committee process in England, and we've looked closely at all of the evidence that has been submitted to the English legislation proposal as well, because we are keen to learn from the best of the evidence that is available to us. In terms of the impact on cost of renting, again, it's interesting, when you look at the current market, that there's no real differential between the cost that tenants are expected to pay to landlords who let independently or those who let through letting agents. There's no real difference in terms of the kind of rent that people pay, whether they are paying huge extra costs or no or very few extra costs. So, there isn't that kind of clear differential there either. In terms of enforcement and the provision of information, that will be done through Rent Smart Wales. As I say, we've got really good data and good relationships with the sector now, thanks to that. That also sets us apart from England as well because they don't have any kind of equivalent body. So, as a final stop, if you like, if landlords and letting agents don't comply with this legislation and they don't pay a fine, should they be subject to a fine, the ultimate sanction here in Wales would be that they would have their ability to rent homes removed from them, and that is a severe disincentive in terms of not complying with the law as well. So, the legislation, as laid before the Assembly, does have some really strong focus on enforcement, as you'd expect. It also allows the local housing authorities to be able to keep any money that they are able to secure as fines to reinvest in their enforcement activities. Again, that's a difference between our approach here and the approach in England. We are asking local housing authorities to be the enforcement bodies for this, whereas in England it is trading standards. Again, we think that this best reflects our particular levels of expertise, the particular relationships that we have, and the fact that local housing authorities are, in our view, best placed to be the ones who are enforcing housing legislation here in Wales. I don't want to make things more onerous for landlords, and I don't want to make things more onerous for tenants. What we want, really, is to ensure that we have a system that is transparent and as easily understood as possible. I think that we can certainly do that by working closely with the people who represent the landlords and also through Rent Smart Wales.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn ichi am y sylwadau yna. Gallai fod yn ddefnyddiol pe byddwn yn dychwelyd at fater yr hyn yr ydym wedi'i ddysgu o ddeddfwriaeth yr Alban o ran ein dull o weithredu yma yng Nghymru. Mae'n ffaith fod rhenti wedi codi yn y 12 mis cyntaf yn dilyn cyflwyno Deddf Tai ar Rent Preifat (yr Alban) 2011. Roedd honno'n diwygio Deddf Rhenti (yr Alban) 1984, y cyfeiriais ati o'r blaen, ac yn y bôn roedd yn gwahardd codi pob taliad ar denantiaid ac eithrio rhent a blaendal ad-daladwy. Fodd bynnag, nid yw'r dystiolaeth yn bendant fod rhenti wedi codi o ganlyniad uniongyrchol i'r newid yn y gyfraith, ac fel y dywedais, archwiliwyd y mater gan ymchwiliad Tŷ'r Cyffredin i'r sector rhentu yn yr Alban ym mis Mawrth 2015. Methodd hwnnw â darganfod tystiolaeth ddigonol i egluro cynnydd o'r fath. Nododd y pwyllgor fod ffactorau ehangach yn ddylanwad posibl ar y cynnydd, gan gynnwys newidiadau yn y boblogaeth a diffyg cyflenwad o eiddo yn y sector rhentu preifat. Ystyrid bod gweithrediad y farchnad ar y pryd - felly, niferoedd yr asiantau gweithredol, hyd tenantiaethau, newidiadau yn sut yr oedd asiantau yn gweithio, rheolau ynglŷn â diogelu blaendaliadau a safonau iechyd a diogelwch uwch - i gyd yn ystyriaethau perthnasol hefyd fel na ellid eu gwahanu oddi wrth Ddeddf 2011. Felly, rwy'n siŵr y bydd y profiadau yn yr Alban a'r ddeddfwriaeth sydd ar hyn o bryd yn gwneud ei ffordd drwy'r broses yn Lloegr yn bethau fydd pwyllgorau yn awyddus i graffu arnyn nhw. Ond, y - dim ond i dawelu meddyliau'r Aelodau - mae'n wir hefyd ein bod wedi edrych yn fanwl iawn hefyd ar brofiad yr Alban a'r broses pwyllgor yn Lloegr, ac rydym wedi edrych yn fanwl ar yr holl dystiolaeth a gyflwynwyd i'r cynnig deddfwriaethol yn Lloegr hefyd, gan ein bod yn awyddus i ddysgu oddi wrth y dystiolaeth orau sydd ar gael i ni. O ran yr effaith ar gost rhentu, eto, mae'n ddiddorol, pan edrychwch chi ar y farchnad bresennol, nid oes unrhyw wir wahaniaeth rhwng y gost y disgwylir i denantiaid ei thalu i landlordiaid sy'n gosod yn annibynnol a'r rhai sy'n gosod drwy asiantau gosod. Nid oes gwahaniaeth gwirioneddol o ran faint o rent y mae pobl yn ei dalu, pa un a ydynt yn talu costau ychwanegol enfawr ai peidio neu'n talu dim neu ychydig iawn o gostau ychwanegol. Felly, nid oes y fath honno o wahaniaeth eglur yno ychwaith. O ran gorfodi a darparu gwybodaeth, caiff hynny ei wneud drwy Rhentu Doeth Cymru. Fel y dywedaf, mae gennym ddata gwirioneddol dda a pherthynas dda gyda'r sector erbyn hyn, diolch i hwnnw. Mae hynny hefyd yn ein gosod ni ar wahân i Loegr hefyd gan nad oes ganddyn nhw unrhyw gorff cyfatebol o'r fath. Felly, fel dewis olaf, os mynnwch chi, os nad yw landlordiaid ac asiantau gosod yn cydymffurfio â'r ddeddfwriaeth hon a ddim yn talu dirwy, pe byddent i fod i dalu dirwy, y gosb eithaf yma yng Nghymru fyddai y gellid diddymu eu gallu i rentu cartrefi, ac mae hwnnw'n anghymhelliad difrifol o ran peidio â chydymffurfio â'r gyfraith hefyd. Felly, mae gan y ddeddfwriaeth, fel y'i gosodwyd gerbron y Cynulliad, bwyslais cryf iawn ar orfodi, fel y byddech yn ei ddisgwyl. Mae hi hefyd yn caniatáu i'r awdurdodau tai lleol gadw unrhyw arian y gallant eu sicrhau gyda dirwyon i'w hailfuddsoddi yn eu gweithgareddau gorfodi. Unwaith eto, dyna wahaniaeth arall rhwng ein dull ni yma a'r dull gweithredu yn Lloegr. Rydym yn gofyn i awdurdodau tai lleol fod yn gyrff gorfodi ar gyfer hyn, ond yn Lloegr safonau masnach sydd yn gwneud hynny. Unwaith eto, rydym o'r farn mai hyn sydd yn adlewyrchu orau ein lefelau neilltuol o arbenigedd, y berthynas arbennig sydd gennym, a'r ffaith fod awdurdodau tai lleol, yn ein barn ni, yn y sefyllfa orau i fod y rhai sydd yn gorfodi'r ddeddfwriaeth tai yma yng Nghymru. Nid wyf yn dymuno gwneud pethau'n fwy beichus i landlordiaid, ac nid wyf yn dymuno gwneud pethau'n fwy beichus i denantiaid. Yr hyn yr ydym ei eisiau, mewn gwirionedd, yw sicrhau bod gennym system sydd mor dryloyw a hawdd ei deall ag y bo modd. Credaf y gallwn yn sicr wneud hynny drwy weithio'n agos gyda'r bobl sy'n cynrychioli landlordiaid a hefyd drwy Rhentu Doeth Cymru.