Update on new legislation
for private sector landlords
and agents
July 2015
© Crown copyright 2015
WG25998
Digital ISBN 978 1 4734 4332 7
Housing (Wales) Act 2014 - Part 1 –
Rent Smart Wales - Regulating the letting and management practices of landlords and agents in
Wales through registration and licensing.
Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 will introduce new legal requirements for landlords and
agents operating in the private rented sector in Wales. The Act sets out the basis of the new legal
system, however further information must be provided in statutory instruments before the
provisions can come into force.
A series of public consultations have occurred on the content of the statutory instruments. These
took place during the first half of 2015. The responses to the three consultations have been
supportive of the proposed approach to the legislation; these can be viewed on the Welsh
Government website. Since these consultations have been completed the following statutory
instruments have been made by the Welsh Ministers:
The Regulation of Private Rented Housing (Designation of Licensing Authority) (Wales) Order 2015
The Regulation of Private Rented Housing (Training Requirements) (Wales) Regulations 2015
The Regulation of Private Rented Housing (Information, Periods and Fees for Registration and
Licensing) (Wales) Regulations 2015
The Code of Practice consulted on will be finalised and issued in autumn 2015 before the legislation
comes into force. There are also other pieces of Guidance the Welsh Ministers must issue and these
will all be created before the provisions of the Act come into force.
What Next?
The coming months will see further, more detailed information regarding the implementation of the
legislation becoming available. It is intended the law will be live during the autumn. At this point
the licensing authority through Rent Smart Wales will be able to register landlords and grant licenses
to landlords and agents. There will be a period of one year following the provisions coming into
force for landlords and agents to comply with the legislation, after which the enforcement powers in
the Act will commence. Local authorities will then need to begin taking enforcement action to
penalise those landlords who have not applied to register and who have not either become licensed
themselves, or appointed a licensed agent to act on their behalf. Agents who operate without a
licence will also be penalised.
In order to facilitate the messaging around the new law, the brand Rent Smart Wales has been
launched by the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Lesley Griffiths AM. The website
www.rentsmart.gov.wales has been set up, where landlords and agents will in future be able to
register and obtain a licence. The full site will be launched to coincide with the legislation coming
into force. A national communication campaign will now start to highlight the new scheme to a wide
audience.
Detailed information outlining the cost of registration for landlords and the fee for agents and
landlords to obtain a licence are yet to be confirmed, as is the training landlords and agents will need
to undertake in order to be awarded a licence. Regulations have given the designated central
licensing authority the power to set these requirements and they will be published soon. In order to
receive information once released people can subscribe to updates on the Rent Smart Wales
website: www.rentsmart.gov.wales
Further information on Frequently Asked Questions can be read at:
http://gov.wales/docs/desh/publications/150428-update-on-new-legislation-for-private-sectorlandlords-and-agents-en.pdf
For specific queries, please contact [email protected]
Timeline:
Activity
Order created by
the Welsh
Ministers to
designate Cardiff
Council as the
licensing
authority for the
whole of Wales.
Regulations
created by the
Welsh Ministers
detailing the
training
requirements for
applicants to
obtain a licence
and the process
for training
providers to
obtain
authorisation from
the licensing
authority to run
licensing training
and gain approval
of course content
suitable for
licensing
purposes.
Regulations to
prescribe the
content of
registrations,
Date
What this means
Cardiff County Council has been designated to run
the registration system for private landlords and
the licensing system for landlords and agents who
carry out letting and management tasks at rental
properties.
Came into
Force:
1 April 2015
Cardiff County Council now has the authority to
set up the team and infrastructure needed to
process applications under the Act ready for the
anticipated launch of the legislation in autumn
2015. The website www.rentsmart.gov.wales has
been set up to administer the system and the full
site will be launched to coincide with the legislation
coming into force. For now you can subscribe to
updates on the website.
These regulations allow the licensing authority to
set out its application and fee requirements, so
training providers can apply to become authorised
to offer licensing training. In addition, applicants
can submit courses to be approved for licensing
purposes.
The regulations also permit the licensing authority
to operate licensing training.
Came into force:
3 June 2015:
Came into
Force:
7 July 2015
The licensing authority, in consultation with
relevant stakeholders, is setting the core syllabus
for training which can be done in order for a
landlord or agent to obtain a licence.
Before the scheme goes live, the training
requirements and a list of courses which can be
done in order to meet the licensing requirements
will be made clear so landlords and agents will
understand what they have to do to obtain a
licence in Wales.
These regulations set out the basic information all
registrations and licence applications must
contain. In addition they allow the licensing
authority to ask for additional information as part of
licence
applications, fees
and the
timescales the
licensing
authority must
process
applications in.
Creation of the
Code of Practice,
Guidance for the
Licensing
Authority and
Local Authorities
and Guidance on
determining
whether an
applicant for a
licence is ‘fit and
proper’.
Launch of a
dedicated,
branded website.
these processes.
These regulations also give the power to the
licensing authority to set the fee level for landlord
registrations and landlord and agent licences.
These must be set at a level that is reasonable
and proportionate to cover the cost of processing
registrations and licences and for ensuring the ongoing compliance of persons with their legal
requirements. Recent case law also means that
the fee can cover the cost to the licensing
authority/local authority of enforcing the provisions
against those who must comply with the law but
are not.
It is anticipated there will be one fee for a landlord
to register, one fee for a landlord to obtain a
licence and a fee for an agent to obtain a licence.
The cost of the training which licence applicants
will have to undertake will not be set by the
licensing authority and it is not part of the fee to
obtain a licence. This will be a separate cost and
one that will be set by the providers in the market
who will be offering licensing training.
These documents will be created by the Welsh
Ministers prior to the introduction of the legislation.
Anticipated
autumn 2015
Part of the conditions of a licence granted by the
Licensing Authority is for the licence holder to
abide by the Code of Practice issued by the Welsh
Ministers.
The content of the Code has been subject to a
public consultation during Spring 2015 and it is
now being refined and designed ready to be laid in
front of the Welsh Ministers in autumn 2015.
The new website is called
www.rentsmart.gov.wales Currently on the site
people can subscribe for updates on
implementation of the law.
Holding page
launched July
2015; fully
functioning in
autumn 2015
The fully functioning website will be launched
when the new law comes in in autumn 2015.
Once developed it will provide information on the
new legal requirements contained in Part 1 of the
Housing (Wales) Act 2014. It will be the main
resource for people involved in the private rented
sector in Wales.
Landlords will be able to register themselves and
their rental properties and pay the fee on-line to
meet their obligations under the Act.
Landlords will be able to apply for a licence and
pay the fee on-line (producing evidence of training
and declaring they are fit and proper), or if they do
no letting and management activities at their rental
properties, they can identify in their registration
who undertakes the letting and management work
on their behalf.
Agents will be able to apply for a licence and pay
the fee on-line (producing evidence of training and
declaring they are fit and proper).
The website will also have the following functions:
• An area for tenants; giving them their rights
and obligations when renting;
• Access to the public register of landlords and
agents (in line with Schedule 1 of the Act);
• News, information and useful reference
material for people involved in renting;
• An application area for training providers to
obtain authorisation to run training courses.
Once the main provisions of Part 1 of the Act
come into force, to comply, landlords and agents
must approach the licensing authority (via the
website or phoning the dedicated number) to
register and/or licence.
Launch of the
requirements
under the Housing
(Wales) Act 2014
Part 1
Anticipated to be
autumn 2015
Landlord
Accreditation
Wales closed
Same date as
the launch of
Part 1 of the Act
Launch of the
enforcement
Anticipated
One year after
The landlord should register first. A joint landlord
can act as a lead landlord on behalf of all
landlords. The landlord either applies for a licence
and attends training (class room based or on-line),
or notifies the licensing authority on their
registration who is acting on their behalf and
therefore their agent.
Agents will need to come forward to obtain a
licence.
The Landlord Accreditation Wales (LAW) scheme,
administered by Cardiff Council on behalf of all
local authorities in Wales, will close when the new
law comes into force. However Rent Smart Wales
builds on its foundations and the information
contained in the accreditation system will be
moved into the legal system.
If you are a landlord or agent who is interested in
completing training at this point, you can still visit
the Landlord Accreditation Wales scheme and attend
training that will be recognised under the new
licensing system until autumn 2015. Although it is
currently voluntary, when the new Act is
introduced, having completed the training will
mean you will have little extra to do.
Landlords and agents will be granted a year from
introduction of the scheme to comply with its new
provisions
contained within
Part 1 of the
Housing (Wales)
Act 2014
launch of legal
requirements
(anticipated to
be autumn 2016)
requirements, by autumn 2016. After this time, the
Council will be granted enforcement powers from
the Welsh Government. Landlords and agents
found to be ignoring their new obligations will have
action taken against them. Action can include:
•
•
•
Prosecutions in the magistrate’s courts (fine
levels vary);
Fixed Penalty Notices (either for £150 or
£250);
A Rent Repayment Order or a Rent Stopping
Order issued by the Residential Property
Tribunal