Renting homes: frequently asked questions (tenants)

The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 commenced on 1 December 2022. 

The new law gives more protection to tenants (now known as ‘contract-holders’) and makes clearer their rights and responsibilities. Changes include:

• Your landlord has to give you a written contract setting out all of your rights and responsibilities, and those of the landlord;
• Doubling the notice period for a rent increase from one month to two months;
• Longer notice periods before your landlord can regain possession (as long as you are paying your rent and haven’t done anything wrong); and
• More flexible arrangements for joint contracts - joint contract-holders can be more easily added to an existing agreement.

These are just a few examples and more information can be found in the tenant guidance document and the easy read version of that document.

Yes. Your tenancy agreement will be known as an occupation contract.      

Your tenancy agreement converted to an 'occupation contract' on 1 December 2022. Many of your existing tenancy terms will remain the same but others, such as the landlord needing to give greater notice of a rent increase, will replace those terms in your existing agreement.     

There are two types of occupation contract:

• Secure occupation contract: This replaces secure tenancies and assured tenancies and is the main contract issued by local authorities and housing associations; and
• Standard occupation contract: This is the contract that is mainly used in the private rented sector (where you have a landlord who is not a council/local authority or a housing association).

Your existing tenancy agreement will convert into an occupation contract. You don’t need to do anything for this to happen. Your landlord will have to issue you with a ‘written statement’ of the converted contract before 1 June 2023. Your landlord can issue your written statement in hardcopy or, if you agree, electronically.

For anyone moving into their home on or after 1 December, landlords have up to 14 days to issue the written statement.

The written statement sets out the terms of your contract. This replaces your written tenancy agreement. For more information on the different types of terms in the written statement please see the tenant guidance document.

Tenants are entitled to compensation if they are not issued with a written statement by their landlord. A landlord will also be unable to issue a ‘no fault’ notice of possession if they have not issued a written statement by the due date.

No. There is nothing in the new law that means that your rent will go up.  If you live in social housing your rent will still only increase in line with the Social Rent Policy, as set by the Welsh Government.

The notice period is a minimum of four weeks.  However, you will not normally be able to end a fixed term standard contract early.

There may be reasons why a private landlord needs to regain possession such as needing to live there themselves or they need to sell. If you have a periodic standard contract, (a contract that has no defined end date and probably started after your initial fixed term period ended)your landlord can regain possession of the property by issuing you a section 173 landlord notice, which is a ‘no-fault’ notice (this means your landlord does not have to give you a reason for doing so). The period of notice your landlord must give you will depend when your contract started. 

If you have a new periodic standard contract agreed on or after 1 December 2022, your landlord must provide you a minimum of six months’ notice. Your landlord can’t issue this notice to you within the first six months of you moving in, meaning you will have at least twelve months before you can be asked to leave. In addition, your landlord cannot issue a section 173 notice if you have a fixed term contract -  they must wait for that fixed term period to end first, and only then if you have been living in the property for six months. 

If you are living in the property before 1 December 2022 your previous tenancy agreement will have converted to an occupation contract on 1 December and the rules around a section 173 notice are slightly different. These rules are a little more complicated and vary depending on the type of contract in place on 1 December 2022.

If you are on a periodic contract, a landlord’s notice is currently two months, and this will initially stay the same after 1 December 2022. However, this notice period will increase to six months from 1 June 2023.

If you were on a fixed term contract that expires after 1 December 2022, you will convert to a fixed term standard contract. A landlord can bring your fixed term contract to an end by issuing you with a two-month notice (but they must do this before the fixed term period comes to an end. If you and your landlord are both happy for occupation to continue after the fixed term ends, the rules on a section 173 notice will depend on what contract replaces the fixed term. If you continue to live in the property after the fixed term, a periodic contract will replace the fixed term and a landlord must give you six months’ notice to bring this contract to an end. If you and the landlord agree to enter another fixed term contract, a landlord cannot end this contract and must again wait for this to expire and be replaced by a periodic contract. This can be quite complicated and you may wish to seek separate advice from Shelter Cymru or Citizens Advice.

See our flowchart for landlords and contract-holders which sets out the requirements for issuing a valid landlord’s notice under section 173.

Succession simply means that when you die you can pass on your home to another family member or carer that lives there with you currently. Your home can be passed on a maximum of two times – first to a priority successor (for example, your spouse/partner) and then a reserve successor (for example, your adult child or a carer).    

Any pet clause in your contract should allow you to ask for permission to keep a pet. Your landlord would not be allowed to unreasonably refuse the request.

If you know you are going to be absent from the property for more than 28 days in a row (for example, a hospital admission or an extended holiday) you should inform your landlord beforehand. 

Yes, the same arrangements apply for the protection of tenancy deposits. Existing deposits related to converted contracts and protected in approved schemes are unaffected.      

The aim of the Fitness Regulations is to help ensure landlords maintain dwellings to prevent them from becoming unfit for human habitation.

If you believe that your property is unfit but your landlord does not agree, it would ultimately be for the court to decide whether a property is unfit based on the Regulations. A court claim would be made the same way as a disrepair claim currently.

However, if you withheld rent on the basis the property was unfit, this could potentially create a ground for possession - either the breach of contract ground or the serious rent arrears ground.

Yes, as this could lead to a health problem and is therefore a potential health hazard.

Yes. Your landlord must ensure that there is a hard-wired smoke alarm on each floor of your home. The requirements for converted contracts won’t apply until 1 December 2023. For more information, please see the Fitness of homes for human habitation guidance for landlords.

Yes. Your landlord must ensure that a carbon monoxide alarm which is in repair and proper working order is in each room of the home which contains a gas appliance, an oil-fired combustion appliance or a solid fuel burning combustion appliance.

Yes. Your landlord must ensure that an electrical safety inspection is done at least every five years and there is valid electrical condition report in place. You must be provided a copy of this report. The requirements for converted contracts won’t apply until 1 December 2023. For more information please see the Fitness of homes for human habitation guidance for landlords.