Renting Homes (Wales) Act: further legislation coming

The Welsh Government has published further, but not all, of the required legislation needed to make Renting Homes Wales work. 

These regulations are; 

• The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Commencement No. 2 and Consequential Amendments) Order 2022 

• Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Act 2021 (Commencement) Order 2022 

The first set of regulations are technical in nature and make  a number of small technical amendments to secondary legislation in preparation for the Renting Homes Act. For example, they define who is responsible for council tax by changing the wording to include occupation contracts.

These regulations follow on from other draft regulations that allow; 

• Section 21 and Section 8 notices served before December 1 to continue to court. These notices will expire 12 months after service or 30 May 2023 (whichever is earlier). 

• Court applications that are already in progress to also continue. 

• Rent increases via Section 13 notice served before December 1 to continue. Tenants will still be able to challenge this at the property tribunal if they disagree with the rent levels. 

This legislation has been published in draft form, meaning that it isn’t in force yet. However, it is unlikely to change, and the Welsh Government has published it early to allow landlords some additional time to prepare. 

The second, and more important, legislation is the commencement order. Once this comes into force it will ensure that no further delays will happen with Renting Homes Wales. 

This legislation is expected to be finalised shortly after the Sennedd resumes business on September 12.

We will update members as soon as we find out any further information on the regulations and we will be publishing various new downloads and guides once the final round of regulations is laid. 

Visit the NRLA Wales hub, to learn more about the Renting Homes (Wales) Act and meet the team.