The Welsh government has rejected proposals to give tenants compensation if they are handed a no-fault eviction notice.
The Senedd’s Housing & Local Government Select Committee suggested that private renters should be offered the last two months’ rent of their tenancy in certain circumstances, for instance where a landlord needs to sell or move back into their property.
However, the government says this could cause tenants to choose to delay securing alternative accommodation and presenting to homelessness services as a result.
As the notice period for a no-fault eviction (S173 notice) is six months, it explains that if benefit recipients notified the DWP at the end of month four they were no longer required to pay rent, that element of funding would be stopped and could result in issues for the tenant in passing credit checks for a new property.
There was also the risk that any landlord forced to forego two months of rental income would likely look to cover all, or a significant part, of 12 months of rent over 10 months to ensure that their costs were met – increasing monthly rental costs.
“As such, the measure proposed in the committee’s recommendation risks the unintended consequence of a general increase in rents across the private rented sector in Wales.”
Both Propertymark and the NRLA have welcomed the move. Tim Thomas (pictured), policy officer at Propertymark, says it wasn’t a practical solution for tenants, especially for those who pay their rent through managed payments. He adds: “The proposal also gave no regard for the ongoing costs landlords have in sustaining tenancies including mortgage and insurance costs.”
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle believes the Welsh government has recognised the need to balance tenant protections with landlords’ rights. He adds: “Confidence in the Welsh private rented sector has been knocked significantly in recent years, but the decision to reject this measure outright is a step in the right direction.”
Main image credit: Welsh Parlliament X account.
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