No-fault evictions in Wales: More tenants to get 6-month protection

More landlords will be forced to give six months' notice for no-fault evictions under last minute plans to change a housing law.

Under current rules landlords can ask tenants to leave without giving a reason - with just two months' warning.

A new law, due to come in from December, means new renters will have to be given six months' notice.

Now Welsh ministers want to expand to some existing tenants - admitting the original plans left many at risk of short notice evictions for years.

But this extension would only come into force in June, six months later than the rest of the law.

It will apply to people on so-called rolling tenancies, which have no end date.

There are fears that the delay to the extension - which is under consultation - could spark a "wave of evictions".

Shelter Cymru called for the Welsh government to bring forward the plans, to ensure the same notice would need to be given to new tenants and those in rolling tenancies from the same date.

The new terms if approved will apply to tenants on periodic contracts - also known as rolling tenancies - that have no specific end dates.

That is opposed to a fixed-term agreement, which have an end date in mind, are not covered by the proposed extension to the no fault eviction law.

Their contracts may eventually convert to the new rules if landlords allow their tenants to remain in the property.

One group warned that in the current market it would be "extremely difficult" for people who find themselves evicted before the summer to find homes.

Meanwhile an organisation representing landlords called for the delay to be even longer, adding that short notice changes were leading to some quitting the sector.

Ministers launched the consultation following concerns from the housing sector over how the original law was going to work.

No-fault or Section 21 evictions are where private landlords can ask tenants to leave without giving a reason - under existing law landlords need to give tenants two months.

There are longstanding calls for no-fault evictions to be reformed - Shelter Cymru says it can be hard for tenants to find a home in such a short period of time.

The changes are being considered to the already delayed Wales' Renting Homes legislation, which will see the conversion of tenants' contracts to simplify them and new rules on landlords to keep their homes in good repair.

The law was originally passed six years ago, and was amended in 2021 to include the no-fault eviction rules. It was due to come into force in the summer, before it was delayed until December.

Under the Renting Homes legislation, new tenants will have a minimum of one year to live in their home - after the initial six month period landlords would need to give another six if they wanted to evict.

In the consultation the Welsh government said the way the new housing law had been drawn up meant that a "significant number" of tenants would remain subject to two-month notice periods for "some years".

It said that rules had "the practical disadvantage of rendering the Renting Homes system less effective in terms of improving security of tenure" for people on assured shorthold tenancy contracts (ASTs).

The consultation added that as the change was at a "relatively late stage" there was a "strong case" for applying the changes six months after the act comes into force, "thus allowing landlords time to make any necessary adjustments to prepare for their implementation".

That prompted "real concern" from Shelter Cymru, which said the notice period extension "needs to happen on 1 December 2022, alongside the other changes, to stop a wave of evictions in the months after Christmas".

A spokeswoman said they had asked Welsh government to extend eviction notice periods to six-months for people with pre-existing tenancies "and are pleased to see that they are listening".

Katie Dalton, director of Cymorth Cymru, an organisation which represents housing services, welcomed the proposal but also expressed fears the delay "will leave existing tenants facing a prolonged and unnecessary period of inequity and uncertainty".

"If people are evicted during that period, they would only have two months to find a new home - and in the current housing market, that would be extremely difficult for many people."

Douglas Haig, a director of the National Residential Landlords Association, accused the Welsh government of "constant tinkering and short notice changes... when we are less than two months from implementation".

He alleged it was "yet another reason as to why we are seeing landlords exit the sector", saying landlords had been entering into contracts "expecting to be able to retain their two-months notice period".

"We are sympathetic to the idea of a sunset clause for the current terms but six months is far too short a period and we would like at least two years, or more reasonably four, which is the current average life of a tenancy."

No-fault evictions have been banned in Scotland for tenancies starting after December 2017, and there are plans to do the same in England.

Shorter notice periods will apply in Wales for anti-social behaviour, rent arrears and other breaches.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds said the Renting Homes Act "has been a disaster from start to end, it should not take the Senedd over six years to introduce legislation".

"We now need an inquiry into what went wrong with the introduction of this act to ensure it doesn't happen again and that the taxpayers are getting value for their money when it comes to introducing new legislation."

A Welsh government spokesman said: "Everybody has a right to a decent, affordable home and, when it comes into force this December, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will completely transform the rented sector in Wales.

"It will bring much greater transparency and consistency to renting a home and protect the interests of both landlords and tenants.

"The six-month no-fault notice period during Covid restrictions proved workable.

"Our proposal to apply this to existing tenancies, as well as new ones, under the Renting Homes Act would be an important step forward in improving security for tenants, particularly given the current challenges facing both households and public services."

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