Important deadline for landlords in Wales: May 31st 2023
Landlords, if you haven't already done so, you have just over a week remaining to provide a written statement to contract-holders of converted contracts by 31st May 2023, under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
A converted contract is any tenancy that was in place when the legislation came in on 1st December 2022 and is still running today. Not complying with this requirement can result in contract-holders getting up to two months' rent in compensation, and your ability to use a possession notice will be restricted.
To all of our managed landlord clients, rest assured your written statement is currently being prepared and will be completed before the deadline: we’ve sorted it all out for you, free of charge.
Read: Everything landlords in Wales need to know about the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016
The Welsh Government have provided model written statements for landlords to use. It’ll be a good starting point for you when converting your tenancy agreement to an occupation contract, but it’s only that: a starting point. You’ll need to look at your existing tenancy agreement and perform a detailed 'compare and contrast' exercise, reviewing all of the terms in the current tenancy against those in the model written statement. During the process, you’ll need to consider which terms should be part of the new contract and whether the existing terms are compatible with the fundamental terms required to be included within the written statement of occupation contract:
- You’ll need to remove any existing terms which are incompatible with the fundamental terms you can see outlined in the model written statement.
- Consider carefully whether any existing terms are incompatible with the supplementary terms outlined. If they are, make sure that the supplementary terms are omitted and the existing terms are kept in.
- After this comparison process, assess whether any remaining terms (i.e. any that are neither supplementary nor fundamental) still need to be included. If they do, they will be need to be added as additional terms.
Let CPS Homes help
With the influx of new legislation under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, we understand that self-managing within the private rented sector has become even more challenging and time-consuming. For a hassle-free solution, if you transfer the management of your property/portfolio to us, we will handle the entire contract conversion process free of charge.
Our experienced team have a proven track record of thorough and successful property management. By entrusting us with your investments, you can make sure you’re always 100% compliant and you continue to maximise returns. Read more about our fully managed service and all of the benefits here.
If you'd like to chat with a senior member of our lettings team, get in touch with Rhys via rhys.owen@cpshomes.co.uk or call 02920 668585.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
