{"id":325,"date":"2026-04-01T05:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/?p=325"},"modified":"2026-03-31T12:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:00:30","slug":"guest-post-implementing-a-little-bit-of-the-renters-rights-act-in-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/guest-post-implementing-a-little-bit-of-the-renters-rights-act-in-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Implementing (a little bit) of the Renters\u2019 Rights Act in Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This is a guest post written by the very wonderful David Smith<\/a>, whose encyclopaedic knowledge of Welsh housing law is one of the wonders of the Welsh world.\u00a0 In this post, he is raising a massive point about the consequential effects and requirements of the implementation of the Renter’s Rights Act in Wales]<\/p>\n

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Chapter 4 of Part 1, Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is planned to come into effect there on 1 June 2026. Most of the RRA has no application in Wales but the new provisions in England prohibiting discrimination in relation to children and tenants (contract-holders in Wales) in receipt of benefits have sections in the RRA which also apply the same prohibitions in Wales and Scotland. It is these that are being brought into force in Wales on 1 June, one month after the same restrictions will come into effect in England and Scotland. The Renters\u2019 Rights Act 2025 (Commencement) (Wales) Order 2026 is the instrument bringing these provisions into force in Wales.<\/p>\n

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The provisions operate in Wales by amending the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 by inserting a new Part 2A consisting of sections 8A to 8J. The name of the Act is also altered to the Renting Homes (Fees, Discrimination etc.) (Wales) Act 2019. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 is also modified by inserting new fundamental terms incorporated into all occupation contracts by adding a new Chapter 6A in Part 3, consisting of sections 54A and 54B. These are effectively a repeat of the changes to the Fees Act. There does not seem a huge amount of point in having these provisions duplicated but I believe the intent is to ensure that they apply both to prospective contract-holders as well as during an occupation contract.<\/p>\n

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However, there is a crucial point to note about changes being made to the Renting Homes (Wales) Act. The new sections 54A and 54B add fundamental terms to all occupation contracts, including to existing contracts. That has an important consequence. Where there are variations to occupation contracts then there is an obligation on the landlord to provide contract-holders with a written statement of the terms of the contract that have been varied or a complete replacement contract with the new terms added. This applies across all contract types, whether a secure contract (s109), a periodic standard contract (s128), or a fixed-term standard contract (s136). Therefore all landlords in Wales will be placed under an immediate obligation on 1 June to provide their respective contract-holders with these statements and will have the, relatively short, period of 14 days to do so. Failure to do this in time triggers the right of compensation under s87 which allows contract-holder to claim a per day rent rebate for each day this is not provided, which they can choose to offset against their rent.<\/p>\n

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All new contracts given after 1 June will also need to include these same fundamental terms and failure to do so correctly triggers the same compensation provisions.<\/p>\n

Turning to the actual restrictions, from 1 June, Welsh landlords and agents will, just as in England, be prohibited from discriminating against contract-holders or prospective contract-holders on the basis that a child would or might live with them or visit them or on the basis that they are on benefits. This includes any attempt to prevent that person:<\/p>\n