Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016: Update for landlords
Renting Homes Wales delayed
Following an announcement by the Welsh Government, landlords in Wales will now have additional time to prepare for Renting Homes Wales.
The new laws will now come into force from 1 December 2022, giving landlords additional time to prepare the various documents they need. Further legislation to support Renting Homes Wales is now expected in July 2022. The grace periods for converted contracts have also been extended to match this new date.
Previously, Renting Homes Wales was set to come into force from July 15 2022.
NRLA policy manager James Wood writes about some of the key changes the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will introduce.
As of July 15 2022, the Renting Homes Wales Act will come into force, ending the assured shorthold tenancy regime and introducing a raft of changes to the way most landlords in Wales operate.
As part of these changes, the Welsh Government needs to make a number of changes to existing legislation prior to July 15.
These secondary changes cover a number of outstanding issues and were originally planned for May but have now slipped in to June. This leaves landlords with little time to act on any updates before July 15.
The NRLA has been in contact with the Welsh Government and does have details on some of these planned updates as set out below.
Deposit protection
Further legislation is planned around deposit protection prior to July 15. Currently the legislation will require landlords to protect deposits and issue prescribed information within 30 days of receipt. However, questions remain about whether the deposits needs to be reprotected on July 15.
The NRLA raised this issue in meetings with the Welsh Government and we have been informed that the forthcoming legislation will clarify this point.
Deposits will not need to be reprotected after the tenancy converts, and prescribed information will not need to be reserved when converting an existing tenancy or renewing a tenancy.
Section 21s and Section 8 notices
Landlords will no longer be able to seek possession by serving a Section 21 and Section 8 notices from July 15. This is because the type of tenancy they relate to will no longer exist.
Instead, both types of notice will be replaced by new prescribed forms with new rules and requirements. The new forms can be downloaded from the Welsh Government. These forms include a special two month long notice that can only be used for contracts that converted from assured shorthold tenancies.
However, so far there has been no legislation covering what happens if the landlord serves a Section 21 or Section 8 notices prior to July 15 and then wants to act on it afterwards. This was one of the issue the NRLA raised with the Welsh Government and we have been assured it will be in the June legislative updates.
Further legislation is set to come in that will allow notices served before July 15 to survive the transition, allowing landlords to act on notices once the notice period is complete.
However, there will be a time limit on these notices and landlords will have to use them or lose them promptly by applying to court shortly after the tenants have been given sufficient notice.
Getting ready for Renting Homes Wales
Under Renting Homes Wales will have a number of prescribed requirements they must meet at the beginning of the contract. This includes things like providing a written contract, making sure carbon monoxide alarms are present near fuel burning appliances, etc.
To help show this has been done, the NRLA has produced guidance on these requirements as well as a downloadable checklist for your tenants to sign to confirm this has been done.
Required training
All Rent Smart Wales licensees who have received their licence since July 2020 must complete approved training by the 15 October 2022 on Renting Homes Wales because it is a condition of their, or their employers, Rent Smart Wales licence.
The NRLA has been working closely with Rent Smart Wales and is now offering approved training on the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 prior to its implementation on the 15 July 2022.
Renting Homes Wales training course
Model Occupation Contract
All landlords in Wales will be required to provide a written copy of their occupation contract as part of Renting Homes Wales. These contracts include a number of terms, many of them with prescribed wording.
Currently the only model contract available is the one from the Welsh Government. This document is quite long and comes with a number of clauses that could potentially be amended to be more suitable to landlords. As a result landlords are unlikely to want to use this contract as standard.
The NRLA will be providing our own version of the occupation contract in the coming weeks. We will update our members as soon as it becomes available for use.
