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Welsh Housing Bill Will Make it More Difficult for Vulnerable Tenants to Access Homes
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has voiced its concerns that vulnerable tenants will find it more difficult to access accommodation after the Welsh government’s Renting Homes Bill was passed.
Welsh Housing Bill Will Make it More Difficult for Vulnerable Tenants to Access Homes
The bill introduces huge changes to the way the private rental sector is operated in Wales. The RLA believes that while the bill was being passed, the government missed an opportunity to improve access to housing for vulnerable renters.
Prior to the bill, private tenants had to be offered a minimum of a six-month tenancy. The Renting Homes Bill originally planned to abolish this, known as the six-month moratorium.
Explaining this decision, Lesley Griffiths AM, the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, noted that the moratorium prevented landlords “from offering tenancies to people they deem to be high risk”. She said the situation concerned her “greatly”1.
The government reversed its decision as the bill passed, admitting that this will make it more difficult for vulnerable tenants to access rental homes.
Now that the bill has completed its passing through the Assembly, the RLA has expressed its concern that the minister did not meet with it or any other landlord organisation, despite repeated requests since her appointment.
The RLA Vice Chairman for Wales, Douglas Haig, comments: “Ministers in Cardiff will now be implementing a set of radical changes to the private rented sector that will cause many landlords to consider if it is worth continuing in the market. At a time when we need more homes to rent, this will only make it more difficult still, especially for young and vulnerable people to access the homes they need.
“Given this, it is deeply concerning that the minister responsible for housing has so far failed to meet personally with bodies representing landlords to understand the true impact of the Government’s policies.
“Even at this late stage, we urge the minister to find time to meet to discuss how we can work constructively to meet our shared agenda to kick out the criminal landlords, whilst supporting the vast majority of good landlords to provide the homes we need.”1
1 https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/12/welsh-housing-reforms-a-missed-opportunity
