MORE CHANGES WITH THE SERVING OF NOTICE PERIODS IN WALES  From 25 March 2022, Landlords will be able to give their tenants only 2 months notice of their intention to evict them (no-fault evictions pursuant to Section 21) and only 2 weeks notice (substantial rent arrears pursuant to S8). Good news for Landlords who are struggling to make mortgage payments, but for Tenants who are struggling with their rental payments, this can be a very stressful time. If you are a tenant, then it is important that you do not ignore the problem, you seek help as soon as you are having difficulty with paying your rent.  Speak to a debt counsellor, speak to Shelter, or the CAB, keep engaging with your landlord. There are tenants who simply do not care they are missing their rental payments, they may be breaching their tenancy conditions and causing damage to the property, in which case, a Landlord should consider whether to re-serve a notice to take advantage of the change in legislation. If you are a Landlord with a property in Wales, then please phone us as because we are fully experienced in both English and Welsh housing law legislation, and we can explain the changes now, and the changes coming into force this summer. The law is becoming more complex and the difference between English and Welsh legislation is becoming further apart.  If you have a home or property in Wales, then speak to us.  

    We are often asked if Landlords can refuse a tenancy on the basis that the Tenant has a pet. At the moment, they can, but a paper is going through Parliament known as 'The Dogs and Domestic Animals (accommodation and Protection) Bill' which (if passed) will make it discriminatory to refuse a tenancy just because the Tenant has a pet. The Equality Act 2010 service providers (which includes Landlords), must not directly or indirectly discriminate against people with a disability.  Section 20(3) says that they must make reasonable adjustments where a provision, criterion or practice, puts a disabled person at a substantive disadvantage to a non-disabled person. Under the Equality and Human Rights Commissions guidance for social housing providers, it says that a Landlord would have to change a tenancy if it prohibits pets if the pet is an assistance, or guide dog and failure to do so may risk breaching article 14 of the human rights (prohibition of discrimination); therefore if one can reasonably argue that the pet helps their disability (including a hidden disability), then one can consider relying upon this. The most important thing we can do is lobby our MPs on this issue; it is (in our view) discriminatory because pets are like a family member and it is abhorrent to ask a tenant to rehome a pet just so they can move into a property. Useful guides can be found at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, 'a guide to pets in rental properties' and The Dogs Trust 'Lets with Pets'. Hopefully the bill will be past in the very near future, it simply make sense that it is. All our blogs are generic and cannot be relied upon for legal proceedings, for specific advice on your matter, please speak to one of our team; also, the law changes, and blogs may be overridden by new law.     

DONT BE CAUGHT OUT, LISTEN INTO OUR VLOG AND LEARN ABOUT THE NEW VERY IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR LANDLORDS AND TENANTS IN WALES More changes are around the corner for Landlords in Wales. From July 2022, Landlords will not be able to recover possession of their properties for a minimum of 12 months. This is great news for tenants, because they have long been arguing for more security, but it may make Landlords think twice about whether they want to stay in the property rental market. For any new tenancies there will be changes to the tenancy agreements in Wales. NewBold Solicitors will be Vlogging about this in the next week.  If you would like to know more about the VLOG and how the changes will effect you, then please contact our housing team for further information on how you can watch the video and learn all about the new changes.

A Landlord has very recently been ordered to pay a fine of £45,000 and costs of £5,000 for failing to have a HMO Licence. A lot of Clients are aware of the need to have a HMO Licence, but many of our Clients have breached the law but were unaware that they had. An example is, one Client asked a friend of his to look after his rental property in Newport, but the 'friend' allowed other occupiers to live in the property and did not tell the Landlord.  The Landlord was not just fined, but also had his assets frozen under the 'Proceeds of Crime Act' Legislation.   Another example is a Client who was living abroad and allowed his Agent to handle all the regulatory aspects of his property rental.  The Agent had allowed the property to be occupied by over 3 family units, and the landlord faced a fine in excess of £30,000.00. It is important that when you rent a property you have good lines of communication between you and your tenants; that you inspect the property (lawfully of course), and you are always aware of the changes in legislation because ignorance is sadly no defence to breaching the law. If you have an Agent who has caused you to suffer a loss and/or you have breached a regulation whilst they are managing your property, then you will have a claim for negligence against them. If you have an issue with a HMO, if you want to watch one of our VLOGS, then please get in touch.  We firmly believe that creative thinking leads to positive results.

The BBC reports that evictions have now returned to pre-pandemic levels. Figures are showing that 9,410 possession hearings were listed by private landlords in the final quarter of 2021 compared with 9,676 in the same period in 2019. The Government has created a £65 million Rent Arears fund to support tenants struggling financially, but we are told there are some delays with the payment out to tenants. The Government is also ending no fault evictions in England in the coming year. No fault evictions, although they do not provide security to tenants, they do provide security for Landlords.  It is possible that Landlords will be put off from renting properties once this change comes into force. NewBold Solicitors will shortly be preparing a vlog on the changes to the law, and if you would like to be notified of it, so you can watch without charge, then please complete the contact form below and we will be in touch.