Jamie’s Viewpoint – April 2022

I hope this installment finds you well and that 2022 is shaping up to be a good year. In the New Year, I alluded to the fact that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 was due to be ratified imminently and, sure enough, that happened shortly after. Now that the dust has settled and various discussions have been had within the legal and property sectors, we’ll explore the full implications and some of the unknowns.

As the biggest change in housing law in Wales for decades, the Act ushers in significant differences in the way we can evict tenants, create agreements, and manage and maintain your properties from 15th July 2022. One of the most fundamental shifts is in terminology; we will, for example, need to get used to referring to tenants as ‘contract-holders’.

Occupation contracts, including statements of terms, will replace Assured Shorthold Tenancies, which will be demised in Wales. Gone too are Section 21 and Section 8 Notices under the Housing Act (for no-fault evictions and breaches of contract respectively), these being replaced with notices under Section 173 and Section 186 of the new Act.

Notice periods will be a minimum of six months and ‘security of tenure’ is guaranteed for the tenant for at least a year. The only exception to this is for severe rent arrears; as before at the two month stage, fourteen days’ notice can be served, but we still await clarity on instances of antisocial behaviour. We have a short window between now and mid-July where we can serve Section 21 notices with some certainty that they will be admissible, but there is still a big grey area on the validity of notices served with an expiry date beyond 15th July. We can, however, be grateful for a rare instance of the Act working in a landlord’s favour; abandoned properties can be repossessed without obtaining a court order, as long as four weeks’ warning is given and we are pragmatically satisfied that the property has been abandoned.

Another key novelty is that joint contract-holders can be added or removed from occupation contracts without the need to end and commence new terms. One of the key reasons for allowing this is to provide protection to victims of domestic abuse by allowing the eviction of the offender, but we await legal advise on the deeper implications of this allowance. Indeed, fuller scrutiny of all the fundamental provisions will be required over the next couple of months as all landlords are bound by them, whilst also being allowed to stipulate supplementary provisions in respect of practical matters.

Section 94 of the Act will, in conjunction with the less-talked-about Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, fortify the duty on landlords to maintain the property well. Please take a look at our separate blog for an in-depth look at this.

There is a six month transition period, meaning that all existing tenants will realistically need to be migrated as contract-holders by Christmas, so we will be in touch with you individually to discuss the process for your tenants. The Act in full, with amendments, can be viewed here.

As soon as the Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee meet again in May, we will, of course update you.

Please always feel free to give us a call on 0333 3447850 or email hello@redkeylets.co.uk if you need to talk through any of the points raised in this blog, or indeed anything else. As I mentioned previously, with economic and legislative uncertainty, one of the best ways you can protect your investment is with our Rent Protection Service. Click here to find out more.