As of 23rd November 2016, it became a legal requirement for all Landlords in Wales to hold a licence issued by Rent Smart Wales.
In order to register, a Landlord must provide accurate and up-to-date information about themselves and their rental properties in Wales. This new requirement comes from Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.
If you answer yes to these questions, you are a Landlord and need to comply with the registration requirements in Wales.
Registering as a Landlord is made easy through the Rent Smart Wales website. Simply create an account and work through the online process. A Landlord must complete the registration themselves; an agent or another person who is not the Landlord cannot do it on their behalf. If you are a self-managing Landlord, you also need to apply for a license. To find out more read the Landlord Licensing section on the Rent Smart Wales site.
A Landlord, for the purpose of the legislation, is the person who is entitled to possession of the property. This, in most cases, will be the owner of the property.
A Landlord could be an individual person, a group of people or even a company (depending on how the property is owned). If the property being registered is in joint ownership, one lead owner must register it on behalf of all other owners. If a property is owned by a company, the company registers as the Landlord.
A Landlord registration costs £33.50 if completed online. This is the cost for each Landlord type registering. The cost for registration does not increase if more than one rental property is part of the registration. If someone requests a paper application form to complete instead of doing the registration online it costs £80.50.
A Landlord must include the address of all rental property in Wales they are the Landlord for in their registration. This will be the address of all dwellings (buildings, or part of a building, occupied as a separate dwelling) which are subject to, or marketed or offered for let under a domestic occupation contract. Only dwellings rented on assured, assured shorthold or regulated occupation contract are required to be part of the register. These are the main types of tenancies used to rent out properties privately in Wales.
A Landlord’s Rent Smart Wales registration lasts for five years, after which time they must re-register. During the registered period, a Landlord must keep the information within it up to date. By law, certain changes in information must be notified.
Any change in name; correspondence address; contact telephone number; e-mail address or other contact information provided as part of the registration. Any change (either that someone has started or ceased) to undertake letting or management at the registered rental property (for which they would need a license from Rent Smart Wales). Any changes of interest the Landlord has with the rental property (i.e. if they sell a registered property). If a Landlord acquires another property subject to or marketed or offered for let under a domestic tenancy in Wales they are obliged to add it to their registration. A Landlord has 28 days in which to do this.
All Landlords will be requested, by us, to supply their registration and licensing details (if applicable) when we are formally instructed to market the property. For more information, please get in touch.
