English: I thank you very much for those comments and also recognise that bringing in legislation to this effect was a Plaid Cymru manifesto commitment. As it's something that the Conservative Party are taking forward in England, and I know it's something that UKIP have spoken about in favour of before, I think that it's good that we have cross-party consensus on this particular piece of legislation, although I fully expect the robust scrutiny that will be coming as we move things forward through the Assembly. It might be helpful if I just outline some of the summary of costs that we have published in the RIA, and that demonstrates, really, how we would expect the removal of the fees charged to tenants to impact on other parts of the sector, such as landlords and the letting agents. We estimate the likely costs and benefits to tenants, landlords and letting agents in the RIA, over a five-year period, in order to give us a good understanding of how things might impact the various different interests. Tenants, we believe, are expected to save between £16.7 million and £38.6 million over this period through no longer having to pay those letting agents' fees. So, the essential estimate is that £24.1 million would be saved to tenants. However, we do recognise that they may experience an increase in rent from the Bill in the first year of implementation. We estimate that at around £2.9 million. But, then, we anticipate that they'd save £7.5 million over the period from no longer having to pay those letting fees. And the net saving, therefore, to tenants is estimated to be around £4.6 million. There may be costs to letting agents of up to £6.6 million in the first year, but these, again, might be offset by increasing the fees to landlords by about £5 million, leaving a net cost to the letting agents of £1.6 million. Costs to the landlords in the first year we expect may be £5.8 million, either from not being able to charge fees, or from increased charges that they experience from the letting agents. But these, then, may be offset by £2.9 million by increasing rent, so the net cost to landlords is estimated to be around £2.9 million. So, it's very much one of those situations where, when we take action in one part of the sector, there are knock-on implications for the others. But we've tried to come to a good understanding of what those might be, through independent research that we've done, alongside the consultation responses that we've received as well. In terms of payment by default, I think it is right that landlords should be able to recoup costs or to recoup money when their tenants have been found to be in breach of their contract. You gave the example of losing keys as one way in which landlords might seek to recoup some of that money from the tenants. The cost of lost keys would be on the face of that contract, so there should be really, really good transparency, in the future, for contract holders to understand exactly what the cost might be for them if they were to be in default of their contract in any way. You asked about security deposits and how much they might be. We didn't consult specifically on what level security deposits should be set at in the consultation process, and therefore we don't suggest putting a figure on the face of the Bill. Now, that's one of the ways in which our legislation differs from the legislation in England. One of the things I'm really wary of is not putting on the face of the Bill the level of the security deposit, because we could, unintentionally, have the consequence of raising the actual level of security deposits as well, because there is - . My understanding of it is that it's around four or five weeks. So, in England, where you've got six weeks on the Bill, you could potentially be pushing up that cost, which is something that we don't want to do. It does give regulation-making powers, though, in the Bill. So, if, at a future date, we are of the opinion that security deposits are rising unacceptably and becoming unaffordable, then legislation could be brought forward, following a consultation, on that as well. In terms of changing details, again this is another area where our legislation differs from that in England. In England, there is a charge on the face of the Bill, where there would be a £50 charge or 'reasonable costs' that could be charged for a new joint tenant, for example, to be added to the names within a tenancy agreement. It's not our proposal to add that on the face of our Bill, because we think it would be difficult to manage, both initially and over the long term, and quite what is meant by 'reasonable' could lead to disputes between landlords and contract holders unnecessarily, because it's not a huge or onerous amount of work to add a new contract holder to the details of a contract as well. In terms of other differences between the legislation that we see across the border in England, there are some enforcement arrangements that differ quite significantly. Again, I'm sure that committees will be paying particular interest to the different approaches that have been taken in our different nations. I think education is very important, both for the tenants - and I think there's much wider work to be done, actually, in terms of tenants and financial inclusion - but also in terms of the landlords and the letting agents who will be subject to the legislation. And this is why Rent Smart Wales puts us in a really good place, because we're now in direct contact with over 90,000 landlords and over 2,500 letting agents, all of whom are able to receive up-to-date, good-quality information and advice from Welsh Government on their responsibilities. But I think there's lots to learn in the private rented sector from the great work that's happening in the social rented sector, in terms of supporting tenants to better understand their financial responsibilities and the wider opportunities for financial inclusion activities. I've been really impressed by some of the work that we've seen going on through social landlords, in terms of supporting tenants with financial literacy, digital inclusion and a whole wide range of things that go well beyond what we would normally think of as simply a housing issue, because of the importance it places in helping people maintain and sustain their tenancies.
Welsh: Rwy'n diolch yn fawr i chi am y sylwadau yna a hefyd yn cydnabod fod cyflwyno deddfwriaeth i'r perwyl hwn yn ymrwymiad maniffesto gan Blaid Cymru. Gan ei fod yn rhywbeth y mae'r Blaid Geidwadol yn ei wneud yn Lloegr, a gwn ei fod yn rhywbeth y mae UKIP wedi siarad o'i blaid o'r blaen, rwy'n credu mai da o beth yw bod gennym gonsensws trawsbleidiol ar y darn penodol hwn o ddeddfwriaeth, er fy mod yn llawn ddisgwyl y craffu cadarn a ddaw wrth i ni symud pethau ymlaen drwy'r Cynulliad. Gallai fod yn ddefnyddiol pe byddwn ond yn amlinellu peth o grynodeb y costau yr ydym wedi'i gyhoeddi yn yr asesiad effaith rheoleiddiol, ac mae hynny'n dangos, mewn gwirionedd, sut y byddem yn disgwyl i gael gwared ar y ffioedd a godir ar denantiaid effeithio ar rannau eraill o'r sector, megis landlordiaid ac asiantau gosod tai. Rydym yn amcangyfrif y costau a'r manteision i denantiaid, landlordiaid ac asiantau gosod tai yn yr asesiad effaith rheoleiddiol, dros gyfnod o bum mlynedd, inni gael dealltwriaeth dda o sut y gallai pethau effeithio ar y gwahanol fuddiannau amrywiol. Credwn y disgwylir i denantiaid fod yn arbed rhwng £16.7 miliwn a £38.6 miliwn dros y cyfnod hwn drwy beidio â gorfod talu rhai ffioedd asiantau gosod eiddo mwyach. Felly, yr amcangyfrif hanfodol yw y byddai £24.1 miliwn yn cael ei arbed i denantiaid. Er hynny, rydym yn cydnabod y gallen nhw weld cynnydd yn y rhent yn sgil y Bil yn ystod blwyddyn gyntaf ei weithredu. Rydym yn amcangyfrif y bydd hynny tua £2.9 miliwn. Ond, wedyn, rydym yn rhagweld y bydden nhw'n arbed £7.5 miliwn dros y cyfnod oherwydd nad oes rhaid talu'r ffioedd gosod hynny mwyach. Ac felly, amcangyfrifir y byddai arbediad net i denantiaid o oddeutu £4.6 miliwn. Gallai fod costau i asiantau gosod o hyd at £6.6 miliwn yn y flwyddyn gyntaf, ond eto, gellid gwrthbwyso'r rhain drwy gynyddu'r ffioedd i landlordiaid gan tua £5 miliwn, sy'n gadael cost net i asiantau gosod tai o £1.6 miliwn. Rydym yn disgwyl i gostau i landlordiaid yn y flwyddyn gyntaf fod yn £5.8 miliwn efallai, naill ai drwy beidio â gallu codi ffioedd, neu drwy gostau uwch y byddant yn eu gweld oddi wrth asiantau gosod. Ond yna, gellid gwrthbwyso'r rhain efallai gan £2.9 miliwn drwy gynyddu'r rhent, felly amcangyfrifir y bydd y gost net i landlordiaid oddeutu £2.9 miliwn. Felly, mae'n sicr yn un o'r sefyllfaoedd hynny pryd, pan fyddwn yn cymryd camau yn un rhan o'r sector, ceir goblygiadau canlyniadol eraill. Ond rydym wedi ceisio dod i ddealltwriaeth dda o'r hyn y gallai'r rheini fod, drwy'r ymchwil annibynnol a wnaethom, ochr yn ochr ag ymatebion i'r ymgynghoriad a gawsom hefyd. O ran diffygdalu, credaf ei bod yn iawn y dylai landlordiaid allu adennill costau neu adennill arian pan geir fod eu tenantiaid wedi torri eu contract. Roeddech chi'n rhoi'r enghraifft o golli allweddi fel ffordd y gallai landlordiaid geisio ennill rhywfaint o'r arian hwnnw yn ôl oddi wrth y tenantiaid. Byddai cost yr allweddi coll ar wyneb y contract hwnnw, felly fe ddylai fod tryloywder gwirioneddol dda, i'r dyfodol, er mwyn i ddeiliaid contract ddeall yn union beth fyddai'r gost iddyn nhw pe byddent yn methu â chyflawni eu contract mewn unrhyw ffordd. Roeddech chi'n gofyn am flaendaliadau diogelwch a faint y gallen nhw fod. Wnaethom ni ddim ymgynghori yn benodol ar ba lefel y dylid gosod blaendaliadau diogelwch yn y broses ymgynghori, ac felly nid ydym yn awgrymu rhoi ffigur ar wyneb y Bil. Nawr, dyna un o'r ffyrdd y mae ein deddfwriaeth ni yn wahanol i'r ddeddfwriaeth yn Lloegr. Un o'r pethau yr wyf yn amheus iawn ohonynt yw peidio â rhoi lefel y blaendal diogelwch ar wyneb y Bil, oherwydd fe allem ni, yn anfwriadol, gael y canlyniad o godi lefel wirioneddol y blaendaliadau diogelwch hefyd, oherwydd ceir - . Fy nealltwriaeth i o hyn yw ei fod oddeutu pedair neu bum wythnos. Felly, yn Lloegr, lle mae gennych chi chwe wythnos ar y Bil, fe allech chi o bosibl wthio'r gost honno i fyny, sy'n rhywbeth nad ydym ni'n dymuno ei wneud. Fe geir pwerau i wneud rheoliadau, serch hynny, yn y Bil. Felly, yn y dyfodol, pe byddem o'r farn fod blaendaliadau diogelwch yn codi yn annerbyniol ac yn mynd yn anfforddiadwy, gellid dwyn deddfwriaeth yn ei blaen, yn dilyn ymgynghoriad, ar hynny hefyd. O ran newid manylion, mae hwn eto yn faes arall lle mae ein deddfwriaeth ni yn wahanol i'r hyn a welir yn Lloegr. Yn Lloegr, ceir tâl ar wyneb y Bil, lle byddai tâl o £50 neu 'gostau rhesymol' y gellid eu codi ar gyfer cyd-denant newydd, er enghraifft, yn cael ei ychwanegu at yr enwau o fewn cytundeb tenantiaeth. Nid ein cynnig ni yw ychwanegu hynny ar wyneb ein Bil, gan ein bod yn credu y byddai'n anodd ei reoli, ar y dechrau ac yn yr hirdymor hefyd, a gallai'r hyn yn hollol y mae 'rhesymol' yn ei olygu arwain at anghydfodau diangen rhwng landlordiaid a deiliaid contract, gan nad yw'n waith enfawr na beichus ychwanegu deiliad contract newydd at fanylion contract. O ran y gwahaniaethau eraill rhwng y ddeddfwriaeth a welwn dros y ffin yn Lloegr, ceir rhai trefniadau gorfodi sy'n amrywio'n fawr iawn. Eto, rwy'n siŵr y bydd pwyllgorau â diddordeb arbennig yn yr ymagweddau amrywiol a gymerwyd yn ein gwahanol wledydd. Rwyf i o'r farn fod addysg yn bwysig iawn, ar gyfer tenantiaid - a chredaf fod gwaith llawer mwy eang i'w wneud, mewn gwirionedd, o ran tenantiaid a chynhwysiant ariannol - ond hefyd o ran y landlordiaid ac asiantau gosod tai a fydd yn ddarostyngedig i'r ddeddfwriaeth. A dyma pam mae Rhentu Doeth Cymru yn ein rhoi mewn sefyllfa dda iawn, gan ein bod erbyn hyn mewn cysylltiad uniongyrchol â thros 90,000 o landlordiaid a thros 2,500 o asiantau gosod, y gall pob un ohonynt gael gwybodaeth gyfredol, o ansawdd da a chyngor gan Lywodraeth Cymru am eu cyfrifoldebau. Ond rwy'n credu bod llawer i'w ddysgu yn y sector rhentu preifat o'r gwaith rhagorol sy'n digwydd yn y sector rhentu cymdeithasol, o ran cefnogi tenantiaid i ddeall eu cyfrifoldebau ariannol yn well a'r cyfleoedd ehangach ar gyfer gweithgareddau cynhwysiant ariannol. Gwnaed argraff fawr arnaf gan beth o'r gwaith yr ydym wedi'i weld yn digwydd ymhlith landlordiaid cymdeithasol o ran cefnogi tenantiaid gyda llythrennedd ariannol, cynhwysiant digidol ac amrywiaeth eang o bethau sy'n mynd ymhell y tu hwnt i'r hyn y byddem fel arfer yn ei ystyried fel dim ond mater o dai, oherwydd y pwysigrwydd y mae'n ei roi ar helpu pobl i gadw a chynnal eu tenantiaeth.