LATEST: Welsh Government consults on even tighter eviction rules for landlords

The Welsh government has launched a consultation into plans to extend the notice period landlords must give for converted contracts after 1st December.

Section 173 notices replace Section 21 notices when the Renting Homes Wales Act comes into force and, from December, landlords will need to give new tenants at least six months’ notice.

They won’t be able to serve the notice in the first six months of the agreement and can only serve it if the agreement is outside the fixed term.

However, for those tenancies that began before 1st December and then convert into occupation contracts, landlords can serve two months’ notice.

Once the initial converted contract ends and it is replaced by a new fixed term agreement or a periodic agreement, the notice period becomes six months. It means that landlords would have access to the shorter notice period for as long as the tenants remain in place.

Time limited

The new consultation – which closes on 24^th October – proposes that landlords would only have access to the two-month notice until 31st May 2023.

The NRLA is encouraging members to respond and is also calling for full regulations relating to the Act to be published in full so that landlords get as much time as possible to prepare.

It heralds a large-scale change to the entire property rental market in Wales, including extended no-fault notice periods, extended succession rights, joint contracts, and changes to landlords’ rights around abandoned properties.

Read more about the six-month rules.