The next item will be item 4, the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (Amendments to Schedule 5) Regulations 2024, and the Cabinet Secretary for finance to move the motion—Rebecca Evans.

Motion NDM8632 Jane Hutt

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5, approves that the draft The Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (Amendments to Schedule 5) Regulations 2024 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 18 June 2024.

Motion moved.

Diolch, Llywydd. The regulations before the Senedd are subject to the draft affirmative procedure. If the Senedd approves them today, I expect them to come into force on Friday. I’m grateful to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Finance Committee for their reports. The Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee has raised a technical scrutiny point and we have responded. The very minor error identified in the draft statutory instrument has now been corrected in advance of the regulations being made. The regulations will make changes to the land transaction tax higher residential rates refund and exception rules. LTT partial refunds are available to those who have paid the higher residential rates when buying a new home prior to selling their existing home. LTT higher residential rate exceptions are available to those who sell their old home before purchasing a new one but who own an interest in another dwelling at the time that they buy the new home. The refund and exception periods are available for three years from the time of a relevant transaction and are beneficial to homebuyers bridging between homes.

Evidence indicates that, while three years is usually long enough to support homebuyers, it can be too short in some truly exceptional circumstances. We are therefore proposing that the refund and exception periods be extended without limit for property transactions that are delayed by unresolved fire safety defects and emergency restrictions. In relation to unresolved fire safety defects, the new rules will allow future refund claims in relation to transactions that take place after the regulations come into force, but also in relation to claims where the three-year period has already expired, providing they would otherwise have been eligible within the original three-year period. In relation to emergency restrictions, the new rules will extend the three-year period for refunds and exceptions relating to relevant transactions where such emergency restrictions take place in the future. Recent public consultation has indicated a strong degree of support for the proposals, and I ask Members to approve these regulations.

The Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mike Hedges.

Diolch, Llywydd. The committee considered these draft regulations last week, and our report, which includes the Welsh Government's response, is available on today’s agenda. As the Cabinet Secretary has just outlined, these regulations amend Schedule 5 to the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 and will extend the three-year periods applying to the replacement of main residence exception from higher residential rates of land transaction tax. The Cabinet Secretary is therefore exercising a Henry VIII power available to Welsh Ministers.

The committee report contains only one technical and two merits reporting points. We only requested a Government response to the technical reporting point, which I will briefly summarise as follows. Paragraph 35 of Schedule 5 to the LTT Act makes provision in relation to where a buyer holds a major interest in a dwelling outside Wales. The committee was unclear why the regulations add certain references to subparagraph (4) of paragraph 35. The specific details can be found in our report. We asked the Government to clarify the approach taken regarding these references. The Welsh Government has accepted the point we have raised, and is going to amend the regulations prior to making so that the references we identified as being incorrect are removed.

Can I just say, on a personal note, I very much appreciate the changes being made? I think they'll benefit a number of people, so thank you very much.

I have no further speakers, and, therefore, does the Cabinet Secretary wish to respond? Rebecca Evans.

Just to say thank you very much to Mike Hedges, particularly for those final comments made in that more personal capacity, but then also to him and his committee for the work that they've done, particularly in identifying that minor drafting error. As I said, we have now removed the references to which Mike Hedges referred, and officials have replied to the LJCC report, and the text of the statutory instrument has been corrected in advance of the regulations being made. And then just to concur again with Mike Hedges in terms of these regulations being very important to people who find themselves in some very difficult but exceptional circumstances.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, there are no objections. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.