New laws to come into force will affect landlords and tenants in Wales
Many landlords and tenants in Mid Wales might not be aware of a new law coming into force this summer that will affect them.
That’s the warning from one of the region’s estate agents and chartered surveyors who say the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 is the biggest change to housing in law in Wales for decades, and will apply to existing tenancies as well as new ones.
Andrew Turner, a Partner at Morris, Marshall and Poole with Norman Lloyd, which has offices throughout Powys, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Shropshire, said the law, which comes into force on July 15, would impact on both the landlord and tenant.
“It’s a significant law that changes the way residential accommodation is let in Wales, whether you’re a private landlord or tenant or in social housing,” he said.
“The law includes changes to the way contracts are handled, homes are maintained and the communication between tenants and landlords. Existing tenants will have to transfer to Occupation Contracts as well as new ones after the law comes into force.”
Landlords will have up to six months to transfer existing tenants on to the new contracts.
Andrew added: “The new law affects all social and private landlords regardless of if they handle lettings themselves or through a management company or agent, such as us. So, they need to know what action they have to take before the law comes into effect.”
Existing and new tenants will become ‘contract holders’ under the new law, with tenancy agreements replaced with ‘occupation contracts.’
This includes written contracts setting out their rights and responsibilities; an increase in ‘no fault’ notice period from two to six months; greater protection from eviction; improved succession rights; and more flexible arrangements for joint contract holders.
For landlords the new law brings in two new ‘contracts’ between them and their tenants. These are ‘Secure’ for the social rented sector and ‘Standard’ for the private rented sector.
The new law states that homes have to be “fit for human habitation”, including electrical safety testing and the requirement for mains powered, inter-linked smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.
