Section 21 Change for Welsh Landlords
Landlords in Wales need to keep abreast of a changing landscape when it comes to serving eviction notices ahead of the new Renting Homes Act.
Covid had a huge impact on the property industry, not least when it came to evictions and it affected landlords across the country. But a new shake up is coming to Wales, leaving Welsh landlords with a small window in which to serve Section 21 notices, if they need to.
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Here are the key dates to note:
- July 2021. A six month eviction notice period came into effect
- 24th March 2022. The eviction notice period reverted to 2 months
- 15th July 2022. Under the new Act, landlords will need to give six months’ notice to evict again
Property lawyer David Smith at JMW Solicitors said:
There is a short period to serve these notices for them to expire before Renting Homes comes into effect in July. As things stand those notices cease to exist in July. However, there are hints that notices served before July will carry over into the new regime.
How will the new laws affect eviction?
This is the biggest shake-up of housing law in Wales for decades and to help landlords get to grips with it a new toolkit has been produced by the Welsh government.
Once the new law comes into force:
- Landlords will not be able to give notice until six months after the contract starts
- Landlords will need to have been registered and licensed with Rent Smart Wales
- Landlord will need to follow deposit protection rules
The campaign ‘The Way You Rent is Changing’ has been designed to tell the private rental sector about the new rules, including digital advertising, a radio campaign and direct communication, pointing landlords and tenants to the website for more information.
As things change, now is the time to make sure that all of your documentation is in order. Upload all of your certification to our free Document Storage Tool so it’s all in one place and you’ll get alerts when your certificates are approaching expiry.
Mashroom will be updating our tenancy agreements to reflect these changes (as always, our tenant find service, including the tenancy agreement, is free) and we are also hosting a webinar on Friday 8th April, all about the upcoming changes we are likely to see this year.
