New Renting Homes (Wales) guidance
Two months after implementation it is clear that the Renting Homes (Wales) legislation still has a number of significant grey areas.
To help members understand their obligations the NRLA has expanded guidance on Renting Homes (Wales).
The NRLA will also host a free Renting Homes (Wales) Act FAQs webinar for landlords on Monday 27th February at 6pm. Guarantee your place on this popular webinar by registering here, today.
New guidance
We have significantly expanded upon our guidance for converted contracts.
Converted contracts are contracts that commenced before 1 December 2022 as ASTs or another type of tenancy.
To retain some of the rights and obligations that existed under the previous tenancy regime, these contracts have a number of different rules and requirements including –
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A grace period until November 30th 2023 to have an EICR performed and fit smoke alarms on every floor;
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A shorter two month notice for the first converted periodic contract until May 31st 2023;
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A two month notice that can be served in the fixed term of the first converted contract;
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Different rules on rent increases.
Due to the complexity of the conversion process and the Welsh Government's late amendments to the converted contract legislation, this is an area of the law with a number of outstanding questions.
We have raised all of them with the Welsh Government and are aiming to resolve these issues for landlords. In the meantime we would advise landlords to wait until closer to May 31, 2023 to issue converted terms. Landlords could spend that time negotiating new replacement contract terms instead with their contract-holders.
Rent increases in Wales
We have added a new page setting out the rent increase procedure under the Renting (Homes) Wales Act. It covers topics like how to increase rent, what levels the rent can be increased by, and how the process differs where the contract-holders moved in before 1 December 2022.
This guidance is available here.
The Welsh Government is continuing to look at some form of rent control as part of the Plaid/Labour co-operation agreement, though the final legislation, if there is any at all, is unlikely to come in the next couple of years.
In the meantime, the NRLA is meeting regularly with the Welsh Government to make the case that rent controls will reduce supply for contract-holders and ultimately lead to higher rents as landlords are compelled to raise rents every year to protect themselves from economic shocks.
Seeking possession in Wales
Earlier this week, most existing Section 21 notices in Wales finally stopped being usable in court. Landlords had two months from December 1st to start court proceedings if the Section 21 notice expired before that date.
As of now the only Section 21 notices that are still valid are those that required the tenant give back the property after 1 December 2022. In these cases the landlord has two months from the date required by the notice to apply to court if they wish to use the Section 21 notice.
The NRLA will be publishing its guidance on seeking possession under an occupation contract early next week. However, the court forms are currently out of date, and the courts will be coming to grips with this new legislation just as much as landlords are.
With that in mind, we would strongly encourage landlords to use a solicitor or an eviction specialist over the next few months when seeking possession on an occupation contract. This should provide more certainty to the process.
Holding deposit form
The NRLA has published a new holding deposit form for use in Wales that complies with the new requirements for occupation contracts and the fee ban in Wales.
Training requirements
The Welsh government has raised concerns with the NRLA that a substantial number of landlords who are required to complete updated training as part of their licence conditions have not done so yet.
This could potentially mean the landlord loses their RSW licence if they have not completed the required training by February 28th 2023.
For more information on Rent Smart Wales training, which has been updated to reflect the changes brought in under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act click here.
All Rent Smart Wales licensees who have received their licence since July 2020 must complete approved training on Renting Homes Wales by 28 February 2023 because it is a condition of their, or their employer's, Rent Smart Wales licence.
