The number of renters in Wales has grown rapidly in recent years, with 1 in 6 households now privately renting. Renters in Wales are more vulnerable than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK and lack comparable protections.
We will introduce new measures to better protect renters, including:
- Ending no-fault evictions and giving renters greater security of tenure, restricting rental bidding by requiring properties to be let at the advertised price, and limiting rent payable in advance.
- Fair rent-setting – through limiting annual rent increases to the lower of wage growth or consumer price index inflation, or a clearly defined equivalent benchmark.
- Giving renters a legal right to request a pet, with landlords unable to refuse unreasonably.
- Improving the overall quality of rental properties, with timely remediation of hazards such as damp and mould.
- Strengthening enforcement, enhancing tenant protections, and expanding the regulatory role of Rent Smart Wales – working to ensure that monies collected through fines are retained in Wales, rather than returned to the UK Treasury.
To ensure the safe and proper operation of domestic abuse refuges, we will exempt them from the Renting Homes Act. We will also ensure that the further reforms we outline here are designed to accommodate the unique needs of these essential services.
We will continue to call on the UK Government to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to narrow the gap between rent and housing benefit, reduce the risk of homelessness for thousands of families, and ensure it keeps pace with rising rents.