Renting law brings in six-month eviction notice in Wales

Legislation has been passed that will extend the amount of notice landlords have to give from two to six months.

The Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill will also mean the minimum contract a tenant can be given will be for 12 months.

The legislation makes permanent some changes brought in to stop people becoming homeless during the pandemic.

One trade body said it could mean landlords start leaving the housing market.

The bill is due to come into force in spring 2022, after the Welsh Government said scrutiny was delayed because of Covid.

The law, said the Welsh Government, would give tenants "more protection, stability and security in their homes".

It said contracts would be simplified and standardised.

Landlords would still be able to repossess properties if a tenant breached their contract, it said.

Housing and local government minister Julie James said: "It will directly affect the lives of the one-in-three people who rent a home in Wales."

She said landlords would get "clearer" contracts that would "reduce disputes and legal costs".

Chief executive of TPAS Cymru, formerly the Tenant Participation Advisory Service, David Wilton, welcomed the change.

He said: "We particularly welcome the new protection measures which provide greater security regarding improved notice periods and offer flexibility should tenants' circumstances change."

Shelter Cymru's housing campaign manager Jennie Bibbings said her organisation had long campaigned against no-fault evictions, where landlords evict without a reason.

"Although the Welsh Government's new legislation won't end it entirely, it will improve the situation for tenants because they will know that, as long as they pay their rent and look after their home, they will have a minimum of one year knowing they can't be evicted."

One tenant who lives in Cathays, Cardiff, and is a member of tenants' rights group Acorn, said the new legislation "does not do anything as far as we are concerned".

She feared some landlords would ignore it.

"Landlords and estate agents are breaking the law anyway," said the tenant, who did not want to be named.

She said on one occasion she experienced a landlord demanding money for council tax, despite having told her all bills were included.

"What we need is fair and accessible housing," she said.

The National Residential Landlords Association's Calum Davies said the organisation was "glad" the Welsh Government had not banned no-fault evictions.

He thought the legislation could lead to "negative consequences", including landlords leaving the market.

"The implication of this is it would decrease housing supply at a time when people are more dependent on private rented housing," he said.

The legislation, he said, "encourages landlords to go to court to seek possession when they sadly have no confidence in such a slow justice system".

Landlady Gill Owens, of Nelson, Caerphilly, rents out seven properties.

She said: "Landlords do not want to evict their tenants, if they are good tenants we want to keep them.

"The inaccurate perception is we want to evict them every six months. Of course, we don't. We just want tenants to pay their rent.

"We do need legislation to drive down the bad landlords, but I'm not convinced this will help do that.

"I think this will drive landlords out of the market, which will add to the housing crisis in this country."