What Wales’ 7th May election could mean for landlords
A look at what each party is pledging when it comes to housing, from Director of Operations, Nik Lewis (follow on Facebook & Instagram to never miss an update).
Housing is not sitting on the edge of the political conversation in Wales. Instead, it’s right in the middle of it.
With the Senedd election on 7th May fast approaching, all six larger parties have now published their manifestos, and housing runs through all of them in one form or another.
If the predictions are to be believed, it’s unlikely any one single party will register enough votes to govern alone, so post-election deal-making will be required to form a coalition. That then raises the question: which combination of parties ends up shaping housing policy.
Some parties are focused on tenant protections, whereas others are focused on supply. Some are focused on home ownership, while others are putting social housing front and centre. If the polling is anything to go by, we are likely to see a government shaped by more than one party, meaning a blend of one or more of these focuses.
My view is that landlords in Wales should pay close attention because the next government is unlikely to be neutral on the private rented sector. The question is not whether policy changes are coming. The question is what kind of changes, how far they go, and how workable they are in practice.
Below, I discuss the key housing-related pledges from Wales’ ‘big six’:
Labour
Starting with the current governing party, Labour looks to be pitching itself as the party of delivery and scale. The housing headline is a promise to deliver 100,000 homes over the next ten years, including at least 40,000 warm, low-carbon social homes for rent. Labour is also promising a new National Housing Taskforce to reform planning and contracting, alongside what it describes as a fairer deal for private renters, including a guarantor scheme to help more people secure a rental property.
For landlords, that feels like a more measured intervention than some of the alternatives. It does not read like an all-out attack on the private rented sector, but it is clearly tenant-leaning and still points towards more state involvement, more planning reform and more pressure to improve standards. Let’s not forget that Labour previously ruled out rent controls. If they end up leading or heavily influencing the next government, I would expect a continued push toward stronger tenant protections, more social housing supply, and more scrutiny of how the private rented sector operates rather than a dramatic pro-landlord reset.
Plaid Cymru
Plaid is offering a much more interventionist housing package. Its manifesto says it would legislate for a right to adequate housing in Wales, deliver at least 20,000 new social homes by 2030, and introduce a series of new renter protections. Those include ending no-fault evictions, restricting rental bidding by requiring properties to be let at the advertised price, limiting rent in advance, giving tenants the right to keep a pet (subject to reasonable refusal by the landlord), and capping annual rent increases to the lower of wage growth or CPI inflation, or an equivalent benchmark. It also wants to strengthen enforcement, expand the regulatory role of Rent Smart Wales, and place more emphasis on tackling damp and mould quickly.
From a landlord point of view, Plaid’s approach would probably be one of the most significant shifts. There are parts of it that many people will support, especially around standards and faster action on serious hazards. But the proposed rent-setting controls, tighter restrictions on how properties are marketed and let, and the broader strengthening of regulation would be a major change for private landlords. In plain English, a Plaid-led government looks likely to mean more regulation, more limits on flexibility, and more compliance pressure, even if some of the wider retrofit and planning measures are presented as pragmatic and tenure-neutral.
Conservatives
The Conservatives are taking a very different line. Their manifesto is much more focused on home ownership, supply and deregulation. They want to scrap Land Transaction Tax on primary residences, restore Right to Buy, extend Help to Buy, aim to build 40,000 new homes by 2030, and review the operation of Rent Smart Wales. They also talk about infrastructure-first development and planning incentives for councils, while penalising developers who sit on permissions.
For landlords, the most eye-catching point there is probably the proposed review of Rent Smart Wales. That will be read by many in the sector as a sign the Conservatives see current regulation as too burdensome. More broadly, their housing offer feels more market-led and more ownership-focused than landlord-focused, but it would almost certainly be seen as less interventionist toward the private rented sector than Plaid or the Greens. The catch, politically, is that current polling suggests the Welsh Conservatives are not close to leading the next government.
Reform UK
Reform is also pushing a supply-and-deregulation message, but in a much sharper style. Its Welsh manifesto says Wales faces a serious housing shortage and promises faster planning decisions, intervention where councils fail to deliver homes, replacement of Help to Buy with targeted incentives, and repeal of what it describes as sustainability requirements that add cost without safety benefit. Reform also proposes a 10-year residency requirement for social housing, with exemptions for some vulnerable groups and veterans.
In landlord terms, Reform would likely be seen by some as the most obviously pro-supply and anti-red-tape option. But I think landlords should look at it with a bit of care. A lot of the language is blunt and political, and not every headline necessarily translates into workable housing policy. Even so, if Reform were in government or in a position to shape policy, I would expect a strong push for planning liberalisation, less emphasis on environmental regulation, and a much less sympathetic approach to the current direction of tenant-focused reform.
Green Party
Greens are the most interventionist of all when it comes to renting costs. At manifesto launch, the party said it would introduce a rent freeze followed by rent controls, ban no-fault evictions, tackle homelessness, give tenants the right to keep a pet (subject to reasonable refusal by the landlord), create a Welsh Housing Ombudsman, and build social housing at the scale and pace needed. They see themselves as potential kingmakers in a Senedd where no party wins outright.
For private landlords, that is probably the toughest manifesto on the table. A rent freeze followed by rent controls would be a very serious concern for many landlords, particularly in a market already dealing with rising compliance costs, repair costs and financing pressures. There will be some who support the social objective behind it, but from an operational and investment point of view, it would likely add another layer of caution to a sector that is already not short on uncertainty. The Greens may be less likely to lead, but they could still prove influential in a finely balanced Senedd.
Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems appear to be putting more emphasis on homelessness, social care and practical reform than on headline-grabbing PRS intervention. The clearest housing commitments are around building 30,000 new social homes for rent and tackling homelessness and poor-quality housing. That is a serious supply-side pledge, but it is less obviously targeted at private landlords than what we see from Plaid or the Greens.
What does it all mean for landlords in practical terms?
This is not an election to ignore. Housing is one of the battleground issues, and the private rented sector is firmly in the frame. My advice is not to panic, and not to overreact to any one headline, but to recognise that the direction of travel could change quite materially depending on who holds power after 7th May. The landlords who will be in the strongest position are the ones who stay informed, stay compliant, and stay realistic about where policy is heading.
At CPS Homes, this is exactly the kind of thing we keep a close eye on. Our job is not just to manage property, but to help landlords understand what is changing, what it may mean in practice, and how to stay one step ahead. In a market like Wales, knowledge is not a nice extra. It is part of protecting your investment properly.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
