Shadow Housing Minister, Mark Isherwood MS, has called on the Welsh Government to ensure that changes to the Renting Homes (Wales) Bill protect both tenants and landlords.
Speaking in today’s Stage 1 Debate on The General Principles of the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill, which was first proposed in February 2020 with the aim of amending the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 to guarantee a minimum of 12 months’ before a landlord can obtain possession at the start of a new tenancy as long as the contract holder does not breach the terms of the contract, Mr Isherwood stressed that “given the increasing dependency of people on the private-rented sector for housing, a fine balance must be struck to protect both parties in these arrangements”.
He said:
“Tenants, of course, need the security of a good home and a responsible landlord, but landlords need the security of responsible tenants.
“The majority of landlords are individuals who let out one or two properties. Many of these rely on that income for their day to day living expenses or to provide pensions.
“Any actions which drive decent landlords out of the sector and reduce the housing stock available for rent would be detrimental to tenants in the long run.”
He added: “Whilst the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee recommends that the general principles of this Bill should be agreed, it acknowledges that ‘there was a clear split in opinion as to whether the legislation was required’.
“We will support the general principles of the Bill to provide greater security for people who rent their homes in Wales. However, we also acknowledge the concerns of landlords about the impact that these reforms may have on their ability to protect their incomes, remove bad tenants as a last resort, and ensure that they can take possession of the property in exceptional circumstances, such as needing to move in themselves.
“ARLA Propertymark, the professional and regulatory body for Letting Agents, state “letting property will become less viable for landlords under the Bill’s proposals… where there is no straightforward means to regain the property quickly when things go wrong”.
“They note, in consequence, that there will be less privately rented homes, ultimately leaving tenants with less choice of where to live, increasing rents and forcing landlords to become more risk averse and only choose to house the lowest risk tenants.
“In order to make the Legislation workable, they state that the Bill must be amended to include four mandatory grounds for possession: - when the landlord intends to sell the property, intends to move into the property, or intends to move a family member into the property, - and when a mortgage lender needs to regain the property.”
Mr Isherwood stated that, in light of this Bill’s unintended consequences, the NRLA (National Residential Landlords Association) have also sought to develop constructive compromises that seek to balance the needs of both landlords and tenants, and provided examples of these.
Concluding, Mr Isherwood noted the call by Electrical Safety First for the Welsh Government to implement, as quickly as possible, the requirements in the original legislation for Landlords to ensure any dwellings let are fit for human habitation, including mandatory electrical safety checks.