-
5/12/25 4:43 pm
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Landlords’ experience of Welsh rental reforms demonstrates that well-intentioned regulation doesn’t automatically translate into better outcomes, according to the NRLA.
This week marks three years since the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 came into force, aiming to improve tenant security, professionalise the sector, and raise housing standards. Section 21 was replaced by the six-month notice section 173 notice, while the sector also saw changes to other possession grounds and tenancies were changed to ‘occupation contracts’.
As England’s Renters’ Rights Act kicks in, there are lessons to learn, says the NRLA, particularly as 92% of the landlords and agents who responded to a previous survey by Rent Smart Wales said the Act had had no positive impacts at all.
Although some tenants said the Act had been “a catalyst for prompt repairs” with landlords responding to maintenance issues and tenants feeling better able to engage with their landlord, the downside has been a reduction in rental properties. Before the Act came into force, the number of registered rental properties peaked at 217,631 in mid-2022. By the end of that year, this had dropped to 208,732 and while registrations have recovered to 215,822, growth has been confined to Cardiff, Swansea and Blaenau Gwent.
Administrative complexity can create distance between landlords and tenants rather than improve relationships, says the NRLA, which believes sector contraction doesn’t necessarily mean only rogue landlords leave the sector, as often it’s smaller, compliant portfolio holders who exit first.
It adds: “One of the aims of the Act was to simplify tenancy agreements and housing law in Wales, but it has achieved neither.
“Perhaps the most important lesson from Wales is this: regulation alone doesn’t fix housing. Without adequate supply, proper enforcement resources, and clarity about roles and responsibilities, even the best-intentioned reforms risk unintended consequences.”
Tags:
.jpg)
Comments