The registration and licensing system is making significant progress, says Rent Smart Wales, but any landlords and agents who have not complied need to engage now.
Enforcement powers as part of the Rent Smart Wales scheme became active at the end of November 2016 compelling landlords and agents across Wales to register and/or become licensed.
The new legislation, part of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, was introduced in November 2015 and allowed one year for landlords and agents to comply with the scheme designed to improve the private rented sector.
All private landlords must register with Rent Smart Wales and complete an approved training course to receive their licence, or appoint a licensed agent to manage their property.
In the countdown to the 23 November deadline, the Rent Smart Wales team, hosted by the City of Cardiff Council as the single licencing authority for Wales, dealt with extremely high volumes of calls and correspondence as landlords and agents rushed to register and submit licence applications to comply.
The number of registrations and applications grew exponentially in the weeks preceding the deadline and by the end of November, over 66,000 landlords had registered with Rent Smart Wales. Over 4,200 self-managing landlords and 425 agents had received their licence.
No-one knows precisely how many private landlords there are in Wales – the estimate is between 70,000 and 130,000 so the figures above – and the fact that around 65 per cent – over 137,000 – of the estimated 208,000 private rented properties in Wales, have been registered shows that the scheme has made significant progress.
However, there are still those who have yet to engage and now that enforcement powers are active, landlords and agents who are still unregistered or unlicensed could face a fixed penalty or fine.
The message to all those landlords and agents who haven’t started the process is to get in touch with Rent Smart Wales as soon as possible to avoid action.
The Rent Smart Wales team of enforcement officers will be working in partnership with local authorities across Wales and priority for action will be those landlords/agents who have failed to start the process of complying with the legislation. As long as a landlord/agent can demonstrate they are actively in the process of complying, no enforcement measures will be taken.
Self-managing landlords who have registered should not delay in taking the next step whether that be by completing training or when they have passed their training, submitting their application forms for a licence.
Those who can’t find the time to attend classroom training can complete training online at www.rentsmart.gov.wales/courses.
City of Cardiff Council cabinet member for environment, Cllr Bob Derbyshire said:
‘Wales is leading the way with the Rent Smart Wales Scheme. The private rented sector is an increasingly important option for many people and therefore it’s essential that we drive up standards so that landlords, agents and tenants are all aware of their rights and responsibilities.
‘The scheme is already having a positive impact. Many of those who have completed training have said it will help them to become better landlords. We know that there are landlords out there though who will not seek to comply and it is those who will be our priority for enforcement. Failure to comply is now an offence – there are serious consequences for failing to register and/or licence so the message is don’t delay, comply now.’
For more information, visit www.rentsmart.gov.wales