Rent Smart Wales

An overview

All managing agents and self-managing landlords (landlords who manage and/or undertake maintenance on their properties) must:

Only Landlords need to register.
Apply for a licence if you choose to manage your property.
Pay the relevant fees associated with registration and licensing.
Be a ‘fit and proper’ person.
Stick to the Code of Practice.

About the legislation

The legislation that introduced the landlord registration process and the requirement for landlords and agents who let and manage rental properties in Wales to be licensed, came into force on the 23 November 2015 (The Housing (Wales) Act 2014). From this time landlords and agents were encouraged to come forward and to comply with their new legal obligations. The legislation made provision for those who needed to comply to do so within a year, without fear of any repercussions for non-compliance i.e. without committing an offence.

The enforcement powers within the legislation have since been activated. This means that Rent Smart Wales and its Local Authority partners across Wales, can now take action to make sure that those who need to comply, do so. Failure to comply with the legislation is now an offence.

What you need to know

To make things a little easier for you, we have outlined a few key points below.

Landlords must complete the appropriate application on the Rent Smart website.
All those required to register and apply to obtain a license, enforcement began on 23rd November 2016 to, with various penalties applying.
There are fees for landlord registration, landlord licensing and Agent licences.
The cost to undertake training for the license is separate to the licensing fee and will depend on which training you decide to undertake.
A landlord who currently manages their property may choose not to apply for a license, but must therefore use a licensed agent to undertake ‘management activities, instead. If you choose this option you would surrender the right to manage your rented property as the licensed agent would have to do this on your behalf.
Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact any of our lettings and management staff and they will be happy to assist.

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