The way you rent is changing

Policy Advisor and Engagement Manager, Emily Church writes:-

As part of Welsh Government’s commitment to ensuring landlords and tenants are aware of the changes which will come into effect from 15th July 2022, following the implementation of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, the Welsh Government has created a communications campaign titled “The Way You Rent is Changing”. This campaign will be rolled out between now and the implementation date. You can access the Welsh Government "toolkit" here.

We understand that this is a change for everyone involved, but the uncertainty of the future for private landlords is becoming increasingly clear.

Another concern is how these changes will potentially push landlords to either change the use class, where initially intended for long term letting, to holiday lets, or even the terminal option of selling up, due to the likely struggle to regain possession of their properties, the ever increasing costs,and the long list of restrictions upon agents and landlords.

The unintended consequence of this being that less landlords would consider renting properties on a long term basis or there is the potential of a prevention of new landlords from buying altogether, this then leading into less houses available to rent. Can’t Welsh Government see the current issue, where the matter of availability of housing to accommodate local people in rural areas is already a worrying situation, this then possibly adding to the problem? Furthermore, as a result, many multiple property landlords have no choice but to sell.