Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 evaluation: Phase 2 report (summary)

This paper summarises the findings from Phase 2 of a three-stage evaluation of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (UK legislation). The Act was implemented on 1 December 2022. The culmination of many years of development work, it has the ambition of providing both simplicity and flexibility alongside protecting and safeguarding renters.

The main measures introduced by the act

Changes to tenancy types: most tenancies have changed to either a secure or standard occupation contract (depending on the landlord type, see below).

Changes to landlord types: landlords are divided into community landlords (housing associations and councils, issuing secure occupation contracts by default), and private landlords (issuing standard occupation contracts by default).

Terms of occupation contracts: various terms must be included in all occupation contracts, and landlords are required to issue a ‘written statement’ of contractual rights and responsibilities no later than 14 days of the occupant moving in, or face penalties.

Repairs and conditions of rented properties: all rented properties must be fit for human habitation, and there is protection against landlords evicting only due to a complaint about the condition of the property (a so-called ‘retaliatory eviction’).

Joint contracts: if a joint contract-holder were to move out, this does not terminate the contract for the remaining contract-holders. Similarly, a new joint contract-holder can be added without the current contract needing to be ended.

Succession rights: provisions are made to ensure that certain groups (including some carers) can take over the occupation contract on the death of the original contract-holder.

Abandonment: a new procedure is introduced for landlords to gain possession of an abandoned property.

Ending occupation contracts: landlords are required to give six months’ notice under ‘no fault grounds’ (under section 173, similar to Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988) and will not be able to give such notice for at least six months after the contract begins. This measure was introduced by the 2021 amendment to the Act.

Phase 2 of the evaluation was undertaken by Opinion Research Services (ORS) between October 2023 and July 2024, to:

• assess the progress of the implementation of the Act
• determine the success of the Act in meeting the intentions set out through its development by the Law Commission and the Welsh Government
• assess the early impacts of the Act on landlords, contract holders, and the rental sector overall in Wales

The main stages of the research

Virtual individual and small group interviews with 25 representatives from 12 stakeholder organisations.

A survey of landlords/managing agents, which was available online between February and March 2024. 3,524 responses were received, including partial responses (940) where the respondent dropped out before completing the full survey (2,584 complete responses were received). This is a much higher response than received in Phase 1, during which 676 responses were received, including partial responses (there were 539 complete responses). 3,504 respondents in Phase 2 were either private sector landlords or managing/letting agents, and 20 ^{[footnote 1]} were social landlords.

A secondary analysis of Rent Smart Wales (RSW) and Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data sets identified as potentially suitable for use to evaluate the effects of the Act on landlord behaviour ^{[footnote 2]}. These included:

• the total number of properties in registration at the end of each month, by local authority (RSW)
• enforcement action taken against non-compliant landlords and agents, including the failure of a landlord to be registered (RSW)
• training completed by landlords and agents (RSW)
• the quarterly number of fault-based claims issued by private landlords for possession, along with the number of Accelerated Procedures ^{[footnote 3]} claims (MoJ)

Five virtual focus groups and two virtual individual interviews with 34 landlords and managing agents from across Wales: 12 from the social sector; 18 from the private sector; and four accommodation providers in the domestic abuse refuge sector. In response to the focus group/interview invitation, four landlords replied with written feedback by email.

Four virtual focus groups and 17 virtual individual interviews with contract-holders living in the social and private rented sectors. 32 contract-holders from across Wales took part: 14 were renting from a community landlord, and 18 were renting privately. Six of the 32 had taken part in Phase 1 of the evaluation, whilst 26 were new participants.

Awareness and knowledge of the Act

Phase 2 evaluation findings show good awareness and knowledge of the Act among stakeholders and landlords/managing agents; and improved awareness and understanding among contract-holders in comparison with Phase 1. We would note, though, that while most contract-holders were aware of the Act’s existence, understanding was still somewhat lacking on its detail, the extent of contract-holders’ rights, and how to exercise them. This was true for private and community landlord contract-holders.

Expectations of the Act

Main expectations of the Act were wide ranging, from simplifying the renting process within a single legal framework (stakeholders) and ensuring better security of tenure and rights for contract-holders (stakeholders and contract-holders); to continued increases in paperwork and bureaucracy (landlords and manging agents). Most participants felt that it is still too early to tell whether their expectations had been fully realised, however.

Many Phase 1 participants had expected the Act to result in an exodus of landlords from the rental market. However, while Phase 2 indicates that some landlords and managing agents still have this concern, many others (especially respondents to the landlord/managing agent survey) recognised that it has not materialised to the expected extent. Furthermore, independent analysis of RSW data does not support this concern.

Support, advice, and guidance

Most stakeholders said that the number of requests they had received for support, advice, and guidance had not been as high as anticipated, and that they had generally reduced following the Act’s initial implementation phase.

Among stakeholders providing advice to contract-holders, common queries tend not to relate directly to the Act, but focus on repairs, concerns that landlords will raise rents, and advice on rent arrears and the support available to pay rent.

Sources of support for landlords and managing agents

The most common sources of support and guidance for landlords and managing agents (according to the findings of the landlord and managing agent survey) are RSW and managing/letting agents. Other commonly used sources include the Welsh Government’s Renting Homes Wales website and the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). Advice and assurance sought tends to be around adding or removing contract holders, notice periods, possession claims, succession, and ensuring contracts were correctly converted.

Sources of support for contract-holders

Contract-holders mirrored the responses given in Phase 1, stating that they use both formal and informal channels of support and guidance.

In terms of formal support, community landlord contract-holders tended to say they would approach their local authority/housing association and contract-holders’ groups. More widely, participants said they accessed information and advice from Citizen’s Advice or the internet (the Welsh Government and RSW websites for example). Overall, contract-holders considered the information they had found and received about the Act to be both useful and informative.

In contrast, others sought advice and guidance via more informal routes like their landlords and managing agents, family and friends, and the media. Additionally, some contract-holders stated that they would consult their contract for information first and seek clarity online, rather than trust their landlord to provide the correct information.

Meeting the Act’s requirements

While some non-compliance was thought to remain, stakeholders were typically of the view that more landlords are now meeting the requirements of the Act than during Phase 1. Landlords and managing agents tended to concur, with fewer Phase 2 survey respondents considering it difficult to meet the requirements when compared to Phase 1; and all focus group/interview participants suggesting they had been able to meet their obligations.

Progress was also seen in relation to contract-holder satisfaction with landlord compliance; several said that fitness for human habitation requirements like fitting smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and electrical testing, are now regularly being met; and that the Act had been a catalyst for prompt repairs by their landlord.

Main impacts of the Act

Views on the overall impact of the Act varied. While a majority of participating landlords and managing agents disagreed that it is having and/or will have a positive impact on them and the rental sector more generally, positive impacts were acknowledged across all participant types. These included simplified processes; greater transparency and clarity via a single legal framework and comprehensive contracts; better and greater security of tenure and property standards for contract-holders; and heightened awareness of contract-holder rights and landlords’ responsibilities.

Stakeholders and some contract-holders said that these positive impacts are likely to become more apparent in the medium- to long-term. Indeed, some stakeholders suggested that the true effects of the Act would not be felt for at least five years.

Improved security of tenure

Security of tenure, especially in the private rented sector (PRS), and protection from retaliatory eviction in the event of relationship breakdowns with landlords and managing agents were seen as the primary positive impacts of the Act by contract-holders in Phase 1. This was also true of Phase 2, particularly where contract-holders were aware of their rights.

However, while it was recognised in both evaluation phases that the Act increases security of tenure in principle through the six-month no fault notice period and protection against retaliatory eviction, there was still some feeling that contract-holders could remain reticent to ‘rock the boat’ with their landlords and managing agents because of supply and demand issues in the PRS.

A simpler, more consistent process

One of the main aims of the Act was to ‘provide simpler and more flexible arrangements for renting a home.’ In Phase 2, the changes it has introduced were thought to have helped increase clarity and understanding amongst participating contract-holders. Indeed, many recognised that they held a stronger position as a contract-holder than they had previously. Moreover, participating contract-holders expressed fewer concerns relating to the contracts themselves (length and complexity for example) than in Phase 1.

In contrast, landlords and some stakeholders in both phases commented on a lack of understanding among some contract-holders of their rights because of seemingly more complex contracts and written statements. However, given contact-holders often seem to view their contracts as a reference document, it is arguable whether it is necessary for them to have understood and assimilated every section of them.

As stated previously, many landlords and some stakeholders continued to express concern around the complexity of the Act; and particularly increases in paperwork volumes and bureaucracy that are disproportionate to the benefits yielded. Consequently, they suggested that the Act has not wholly met its goal of simplifying all aspects of the rental process in Wales.

Improved housing standards and safety

Contract-holders in Phase 2 identified improved accommodation standards and safety as another main positive impact of the Act. Their landlords had generally been able to meet the requirements of the Act, particularly around fitting smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and electrical testing.

There was a sense that there is growing awareness around property standards and safety among participating contract-holders; and that while the Act will take a while to bed in, knowledge will eventually grow more widely around contract-holders’ rights in this respect.

Moreover, despite the aforementioned concerns around ‘rocking the boat,’ most contract-holders reported feeling increasingly confident in raising issues around housing standards and safety in the future, especially considering the Act’s requirements around fitness for human habitation and the prohibition of retaliatory eviction.

Potential unintended consequences of the Act

In the Phase 1 research with landlords/managing agents, the most readily identified potential impact of the Act on the PRS was that landlords would consider leaving the private rented sector as a result of its requirements.

Stakeholders and landlords participating in Phase 2 remained of the view that many rental properties have been lost from the PRS since the Act’s implementation. Most, however, recognised that their feedback was based on anecdotal evidence; and in reality, RSW property registration data does not bear this out.

That said, several stakeholders felt that instead of losing properties from the rental market altogether, many landlords have transferred their properties to management agencies; and it was said that there has been a growth in multi-portfolio landlords.

Stakeholders also highlighted that any impacts should be considered in the context of the wider issues and challenges affecting the housing and rental markets in Wales.

Potential impacts for contract-holders were raised in Phase 1, most notably rent increases because of perceived higher costs for landlords and potentially fewer properties being available to rent. In this context, several landlords participating in Phase 2 said they had needed to increase rents to offset the perceived risk and increased cost of renting out properties privately.

Despite the above, data shows that rent increases in Wales have tended to be lower, on average, than in the rest of the UK. ONS data (January 2025) ^{[footnote 4]} recorded private rent increases of 8.7% for the UK, and 8.4% for Wales.

Phase 3 of the evaluation will further determine whether the overall aims and intentions of the Act have been met, especially in relation to the simplicity, clarity, and flexibility of renting within the PRS (for both landlords and contract-holders); and protecting and safeguarding renters.

Phase 3 will also seek to establish the impact of the Act on landlords and contract-holders, and the rental sector overall in Wales two to three years post-implementation. Specifically, quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to establish the tangible impacts of the Act with more certainty.

A survey will provide a dataset of landlords and managing agents’ views on main evaluation impact measures, supplemented with stakeholder, landlord/managing agent, and contract-holder focus groups and interviews to explore these impacts in more detail. Findings from these methods will be triangulated with secondary data.

In considering the impacts raised across Phases 1 and 2, we will focus on gathering further evidence around issues such as landlords leaving the private renting sector, rent increases, contract-holders’ understanding of their contracts, and use of ‘at fault’ rather than ‘no fault’ grounds for eviction following the Act’s implementation. We will attempt to establish the validity of assertions around these impacts through the use of appropriate data sources; and asking those who make them to offer evidence to support them.

Overall, Phase 3 will draw together a range of evidence and views relating to the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. Together with the findings from the first two phases, it will form a full process and impact evaluation, with actionable recommendations.

[1] Eleven local authorities hold housing stock. Single responses were received from six local authorities, two responses from a further two and three responses from a further one local authority.

[2] Rent Smart Wales Resource Library

[3] An Accelerated Procedure is where a tenant has been served a Section 173 notice but has not vacated the property by the notified date.

[4] Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) from the Office for National Statistics

Report author: Kelly Lock, Dr. Emma Price

Views expressed in this report are those of the researchers and not necessarily those of the Welsh Government.

For further information please contact:
Benjamin Lewis
Knowledge and Analytical Services
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: HousingResearchTeam@gov.wales

Social research number: 47/2025
Digital ISBN: 978-1-83715-796-9