New Renting Homes Wales legislation announced
The NRLA continues to press Welsh Government to publish the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 legislation in full, to allow landlords to prepare for the upcoming regulations.
The Welsh Government has published some, but not all, of the required legislation needed to make Renting Homes Wales work.
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 had been due to come into force in July, but the start date was postponed until December 2022.
The main points of interest for landlords in this legislation is that the Welsh Government has committed to allowing -
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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).
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Court applications that are already in progress to also continue.
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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.
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If the landlord did not protect a deposit in the original 30-day window under the AST, tenants can still claim for any deposit penalties owed for that breach after the contract converts on December 1.
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 to prepare ahead of time.
As a result of these regulations, landlords who intend to make an application to court on Section 21 and Section 8 notices after December 1 will need to ensure they have applied to court no later than 29 May 2023. Though realistically, landlords should be looking to apply earlier in case the claim in case of administrative errors at court.
As part of the announcement, the Welsh Government also revealed that in August there would be further legislation confirming that Renting Homes Wales will come into force on 1 December 2022.
This means that landlords should have just under four months from the final round of legislation before Renting Homes Wales comes into force. All of the statutory instruments made relating to the Renting Homes (Wales) Act can be read online here.
The NRLA will continue to engage with Welsh Government and push to ensure the consequential amendments are published as soon as possible so they have as much time as possible to comply.
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.
- To learn more about the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, read our guides for landlords here.
- An updated version of frequently asked questions about the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 has also been published on the Welsh Government website.
- The Ministerial statement in full from Julie James MS can be found here.
