Renting Homes Wales Act delayed until 1st December 2022

Welsh landlords (and tenants) are being subjected to the incompetence of welsh housing civil servants. Unfortunately these people want to affect changes to welsh housing for no other reason than to be different (or just petulant)from England . The changes they are bringing in are going to make housing more complicated rather than simplifying the process, unfortunately they are doing this so it keeps them in work by making everything so protracted even they don't understand it.
As for the charlatan Ben Beadle telling us that's its reassuring that landlords concerns are being heard, he obviously has not read the statement from Juila 'Darth Vader' James who clearly says that the issues are with the social landlords as quite frankly she could not care a hoot if the private sector was struggling. Since the introduction of Rent Smart Wales rents in Wales have increased by over 25% and that's if the poor tenants can get a property. Personally they can bring on more and more legislation as I am predicting that rents will go up another 15% just to pay for the additional legislation. They are messing about with fundamental changes that affect peoples lives and the more they mess about the greater the inequalities increase.

Even by December, the Rental market in Wales will still be unable to cope with the plethora of poorly worded, badly drafted drivel that the labour Assembly has concocted. !

Reply to the comment left by Amzac Estates at 31/05/2022 - 14:54
Great statement,we have sold a few this year and more to go. the requirements are getting mental

I wholeheartedly agree with the comments of Anzac Estates and Chris @possessionfriend.
We have tried to speak with Julie James but had a reply from one of her minions. He was pleasant and tried to be helpful but could not answer some of our queries pointing us to various links, such as the fifty page model statement for the occupation contract. Not good for blood pressure!
In a written reply, he maintained that the new legislative framework for renting would make the process simpler, more consistent and transparent. This would prove beneficial to landlords and tenants.
How can replacing a tenancy agreement of some four or five pages with a fifty page occupation contract be making things more simple?
When asked how a prospective contract holder is expected to read the new contract when signing we were told they only need to read the first page! You couldn’t make it up! Who in their right mind would sign a contract without reading it?
Further, when asked, what if a current tenant, due to become a contract holder, decided he(she) didn’t want to sign the new occupation contract? What would be the consequence? We were told that signing was unnecessary.
The tenant, sorry contract holder would still be bound by the terms of the contract.
But why is Julie James , now minister for Climate Change making a statement on the Renting Homes (Wales) Act? Who is the current minister for housing?
Why was the implementation of the Act being rushed before it had been finalised and without giving landlords adequate time to become familiar with its terms and make the required changes?
The minister maintains the implementation has been delayed because of the concerns of landlords. I find that hard to believe. As a group we seem to be the last to be consulted or considered. More likely it is because the act due to be finalised this month is still incomplete. Further, training we have been asking for since March is still not forthcoming.
As landlords we have tried to preempt some of the changes in the act, installing battery Co alarms and undertaking EICR’s on all our properties. Belatedly we find we will have to re employ an electrician to fit mains interlinked smoke alarms. ( going beyond what is required in England and Scotland). Probably in the mistaken belief that they are an improvement on battery alarms. Tenants have been known to take the batteries out to place in a children’s toy at Christmas or simply because the cooking has set them off. We have some flats with mains smoke alarms. On several occasions our electrician carrying out the Eicr has reported that the mains smoke alarm has been turned off at the mcb!
The consequence of all the new legislation is not the raising of housing standards. Good landlords have always provided good housing stock. It is the loss of housing stock and the increase in rents at the worst possible time . Repeatedly we have been told when meeting prospective tenants that their current landlord has put their house on the market fed up of government incompetence.

@Tom
Its quite clear from the statement of Julie James in the link below, that it was representations from Social landlords that swayed her decision to delay the implementation, not the NRLA success - story they portray - claim.
https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/housing-law/397-housing-news/50673-welsh-government-agrees-to-call-from-social-landlords-for-delay-in-implementation-of-renting-reforms

I am sure that social landlords are able to put more pressure on the so called Welsh Government than individual landlords or the NRLA . But I am not convinced that pressure from landlords swayed the decision to delay.
The final tranche of subordinate legislation has not yet been made. Training that has been promised has not been forthcoming. Work that needs to be undertaken by landlords in the year following implementation would not be completed in time. Already our electrician has been inundated by requests from landlords to install mains interlinked smoke alarms and EICR’s. For landlords with tens of properties, the demand is pressing.
How can Julie James say,
“ I am though absolutely certain that this reform will bring huge long term benefits to landlords …..”
What are they?

Julie James is more concerned with the frustration of some of her partners? Who are these partners? Shelter? Generation Rent?

The simple truth is this - the scheme was due to go live on 15 July but as Julie James herself said "the final tranche of which [subordinate legislation] are due to be made in July before commencement."
How could any government bring in a scheme where the legislation hasn't been made public?!!
Smacks of staggering incompetence. Perhaps they should be smacked!