Apr

BREAKING: New draft law reveals how ‘occupation contracts’ will work in Wales

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The Welsh Government has published the draft legislation that will change the terms of converted contracts and any renewals that replace them within the private rented sector.

This is the mechanism that will replace ASTs in Wales and replace them with ‘occupation contracts’, part of the Welsh Government’s drive to change the language of renting as well as its operation.

The new draft legislation is a key part of the country’s rental reforms, closing off a number of regulatory ‘grey areas’ that could cause issues for landlords during court proceedings.

This will mean the original converted contract terms should be provided by the end of this month and any renewed terms already agreed should be provided by June 14^th.

If there has been a change in the identity of the contract-holder between December 1^st 2022 and May 31^st 2023, the landlord must provide a copy of the written statement to them by June 14.

After June 1^st, if a new contract replaces a converted contract, landlords will have 14 days from the start of the contract to provide a written statement.

This allows landlords to safely renew their contracts after this date without facing penalties and makes it easier administratively as these contracts are largely indistinguishable from standard contracts.

The Welsh Government’s announcement means that landlords will now be able to work towards a firm deadline to ensure they are compliant with the Renting Homes Wales Act’s key requirements in this area.

Clarity

“This announcement provides some much needed clarity for landlords on when they need to meet the obligations set out in the Renting Homes Wales Act,” says Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive at the National Residential Landlords Association.

“Above all, it means that landlords now have a level of certainty with respect to the timeline they can now work towards over the coming months.

“However, all of this confusion and subsequent tweaking to regulations was totally avoidable.

Read more: Landlords have just weeks to comply with new renting laws.

“The Welsh Government should have listened to the concerns of industry stakeholders properly and in our view, much more needs to be done by the Welsh Government to restore the confidence of landlords, which has been badly damaged by the botched roll-out of these reforms.”

Read the draft legislation in full.

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