With its Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 regime due to come into force on 1 December 2022, the Welsh Government is continuing to make significant changes to its new rental rules.

In this instance it is the notice that landlords must give when seeking repossession of their property where the renter is not at fault.

This is to be six months. And in September the Welsh Government decided to consult on whether this should also apply from 1 June 2023 to existing tenancies that convert to the new regime, as all must do.

There were over 1,400 responses to the consultation, the vast majority from private landlords and lettings agents. Most landlords and letting agents were against extending the six-month notice periods to existing tenancies. Of those that were in agreement, most favoured applying the change at a later date.

Despite the weight of comment, the minister responsible, Julie James, the Minister for Climate Change, has announced that she has decide to apply the extended notice period required in the case of existing tenancies as from 1 June 2023.

‘I believe this achieves a reasonable balance between the rights of tenants and those of landlords’, she said. ‘I have today laid regulations before the Senedd to give effect to my decision, and those regulations will be debated before the 2016 Act itself is implemented on 1 December.

‘The proposed extension of the six-month no-fault notice period was always going to generate highly contrasting views. Whilst noting the views of those landlords and agents that responded, I have decided that the societal and individual benefits accruing from the extension outweigh the negative impact on individual landlords, particularly in view of shorter notice periods of one month or less applying where there is a breach of contract. At the same time, I am also mindful that landlords will not have had an opportunity to take the proposal into account in agreeing new contracts prior to the announcement of the consultation.

‘Notwithstanding the calls from tenant representatives to introduce the extended no-fault notice period as soon as possible, I believe it is appropriate to allow landlords more time to plan than applying the change from 1 December would allow. This is also in keeping with the general commitment we have made to giving six months’ notice of significant matters relating to implementation of the 2016 Act’.

Other recent changes to the soon-to-be in force new regime include:
• the Renting Homes (Rent Determination) (Converted Contracts) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, made on 24 October in response to comments from the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, for which I am grateful;
• the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments to Secondary Legislation) (Amendment) Regulations 2022, made on 24 October in response to comments from the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, for which I am grateful; and
• the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2022, which update a now out-of-date reference to a British Standard for wiring regulations and also increase from 7 to 14 days the time allowed for the landlord to provide the contract-holder with a report following an electrical safety inspection (the latter in response, in particular, to concerns raised by large social housing providers).

Following the agreement by the Senedd on 8 November of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022, which make amendments to primary legislation as a consequence of the provisions of the 2016 Act, I have now made those regulations. Furthermore, I have also now made the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Saving and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022, which could not be made before the consequential amendment regulations.