Tenants Guaranteed 12-Month Occupancy from 1st December 2022

As the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 comes into force on 1st December 2022, so too will a new guaranteed 12-month occupancy for tenants. The minimum notice period a landlord must issue to a tenant to regain possession of their property will increase to six months.

As the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 comes into force on 1st December 2022, so too will a new guaranteed 12-month occupancy for tenants. The minimum notice period a landlord must issue to a tenant to regain possession of their property will increase to six months.

Moreover, such notice (often referred to as a "no-fault eviction" cannot be served during the first six months of the tenancy or at any point during the fixed term of the occupation contract.

Combined, these changes effectively guarantee the tenant a minimum 12-month occupancy of the property where an initial six-month occupation contract is signed. As a further example, if the tenancy signed an initial 12-month occupation contract, landlord notice would only be effectively served from the first day after the end of the 12-month fixed term. That six-month notice would effectively guarantee the tenant an 18-month occupancy.

These changes are particularly relevant for those landlords who are thinking of selling in future or those who may wish to schedule property use for themselves.

The new Act also prevents Landlords from making, what is known as "retaliatory evictions". In other words, responding to a legitimate request from the tenant for a repair with notice of possession. Landlords will no longer be entitled to possession if the Court believes the notice was issued to avoid carrying out the repair and this would also mean that the landlord will be unable to serve another ‘no fault’ notice for at least six months.

What about break clauses?

In some cases, previously, a landlords may have been able to negotiate break clauses in the fixed-term contract. However, from 1st December 2022, break clauses will only be allowed in fixed-term tenancies of two years or longer. Furthermore, a landlord will not be able to activate a break clause until at least 18 months into the contract, using a minimum six months’ notice.

What about tenants who breach their contract?

Thankfully, there is some reassurance for landlords whose tenants have breached the terms of their tenancy. In these instances, the minimum notice is one month. Although it can be less if the breach relates to anti-social behaviour or there are serious rent arrears.

As always, if a tenant wishes to remain in the property, a court order will have to be obtained in order to correctly and safely regain possession.

Landlords must ensure that they are compliant for valid notice.

Landlords must ensure that they have complied with their obligations in terms of registering the deposit within the correct timeframe or registering/obtaining a licence through Rent Smart Wales, those who have not will be unable to serve such eviction notices and this can cause unwanted complications and delays in regaining possession of their property.

Further reading

Want to know more? Head on over to the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2022/6/made) or Welsh Government’s accompanying guidance (https://gov.wales/fitness-homes-human-habitation-guidance-landlords-html#section-88908).

Let Bay help with the transition.

As experienced letting agents, we have helped our landlords comply with a multitude of regulation changes over the last twenty years, taking the hassle out of what can be an onerous process.

Our team are up to speed with The Renting Homes (Wales) 2016 Act and are helping prepare landlords for the changes ahead by:

• Working with our landlords in advance of the keys implementation dates to put efficient processes in place to ensure their properties are compliant, safe and legal.
• Saving out landlords the cost of a Rent Smart Wales landlord licence and the hassle of ongoing training through our fully managed service.
• Provide out landlords with their own dedicated Property Manager as a point of contact
• Producing a walkthrough video tour and high-level photography as part of our standard marketing package.
• Providing our landlords with peace of mind through our Propertymark membership, Client Money Protection (CMP) policy, professional indemnity insurance, and redress scheme membership.