Shropshire Farming Talk: Vital information for those who rent out properties
The biggest change to housing law in Wales for decades came in on December 1, 2022, affecting the relationship between landlord and tenant.
Existing obligations such as registering with Rent Smart Wales and deposit protection still apply, but ASTs and AAOs no longer exist, and have been converted into new ‘Occupation Contracts’.
If you have a contract that existed before December 1 2022 this is automatically converted to an Occupation Contract on that date, and you must issue the contract holder with a new written statement of terms by May 31, 2023.
If you have new contract holders (the new word for tenants) moving in you need to make sure that certain requirements, such as installing integrated and interconnected smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and an carrying out an electrical safety test have been done before the date that they move in. You must give them a written statement within 14 days of them moving in.
The contracts themselves are changing, and the new documents have three types of terms:
1 Fundamental terms cover the key terms of the contract and are always included, using prescribed wording. Some of these terms can be changed, but only if that