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On 1 December 2022 the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 came into force in Wales and brought in the most drastic and...Read this article
Ok, so there is a massive amount of confusion about written statements and what is required.Read this article
If you are renting property in Wales then there are big changes coming your way !In early 2022 the Welsh Government announced thatRead this article
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Homelink Property Management has been established since 1992 and is based in Narberth the heart of the county of Pembrokeshire.Homelink is the longest-serving independent Letting Agents serving the county and we are very proud of this fact, managing over 300 residential properties throughout South-West Wales.Homelink strives to combine integrity with experience and expertise. Only dealing exclusively with lettings Homelink is able to offer a professional and personal service to both Landlords and Tenants. As landlords ourselves we know what landlords want from a good property management and strive to deliver excellent service at reasonable prices.We offer no-obligation valuations, full property management, tenant finding service, full property maintenance service, and legal tenancy agreements.
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I became a tenant with Homelink, just before Covid. What a time to be alive! Homelink were very helpful with all my questions before...
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Justin WardMy wife Debbie and I have owned a number of properties in Pembrokeshire for nearly 20 years. We have used the services of Homelink to...
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Homelink Property Management has been established since 1992 and is based in Narberth the heart of the county of Pembrokeshire.Homelink is the longest-serving independent Letting Agents serving the county and we are very proud of this fact, managing over 300 residential properties throughout South-West Wales.Homelink strives to combine integrity with experience and expertise. Only dealing exclusively with lettings Homelink is able to offer a professional and personal service to both Landlords and Tenants. As landlords ourselves we know what landlords want from a good property management and strive to deliver excellent service at reasonable prices.We offer no-obligation valuations, full property management, tenant finding service, full property maintenance service, and legal tenancy agreements.
Everyone wants to get a good deal, to cut costs and use their money more efficiently. But you have to be careful, sometimes it can be a false economy. Some services are really important to you and you don’t just want them done,...Read this article
Hosting Ukrainians as a tenant - an act of kindness or a legal minefield ? Someone asked the question on a forum recently as to whether landlords should allow tenants to host Ukrainian refugees, and after thinking about it for a...Read this article
If you are renting property in Wales then there are big changes coming your way ! In early 2022 the Welsh Government announced that the delayed Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 would be implemented in July 2022. Tenants will receive...Read this article
Ok, so there is a massive amount of confusion about written statements and what is required. So, apologies for the long post, but I hope this is going to clarify what this is all about and the options that each landlord has to do....Read this article
On 1 December 2022 the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 came into force in Wales and brought in the most drastic and fundamental changes to the way property was rented in Wales since the 1988 Housing Act. Importantly, the Act saw...Read this article
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On 1 December 2022 the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 came into force in Wales and brought in the most drastic and fundamental changes to the way property was rented in Wales since the 1988 Housing Act. Importantly, the Act saw the end of the assured shorthold tenancy and its replacement with the Occupation Contract. Whereas under the previous legislation any sort of written agreement was acceptable as a tenancy, the Act clearly defines the structure and a large part of the content that needs to go into Occupation Contracts.There are two types of Occupation Contracts under the Act, Secure contracts for community landlords and Standard contracts for private landlords. As with tenancy agreements, there are two types of Standard Occupation Contracts – Fixed Term contracts and Periodic contracts.The Act also makes it a legal obligation to provide a Written Statement of the Occupation Contract i.e. the contract must be put in writing, either on paper or electronically.Structure of the Written Statement of the Occupation ContractThe Act defines a number of components to the Occupation Contract:Key Terms – the basic ingredients of the contract, the landlord details, tenant details, property details, rent amount and payment date, deposit details etc.Fundamental Provisions (F) – these are terms that have to be in the Occupation Contract. There are two types of fundamental termsAmendable (F+) – these terms can be amended, but can only be amended to the benefit of the contract holder (tenant). Any amendment needs to be marked as outlined belowFixed (F) – these terms cannot be amended Supplementary Provisions (S) – these supplementary terms can be amended or deleted by agreement between the landlord and contract holders, but any amendment or deletion needs to be marked, as outlined belowAdditional Provisions (A) – additional clauses can be added into the contract by agreement, however these cannot contradict fundamental provisions and if they do then they will have no effectAny amendments to fundamental provisions or to supplementary provisions need to be clearly marked on the Occupation Contract so that the original language is clear for all. Additions to the language of the provisions are marked in CAPITALS and deletions are marked in striking through the original language.Failure to properly mark these amendments and deletions will mean that Written Statement is incomplete or incorrect, which has consequences.When Does a Written Statement Need to Be Provided ?A Written Statement needs to be provided to all contract holders and any guarantors within 14 days of occupation with a new Occupation Contract starting from 1 December 2022 onwards.For all of the tenancies that were in existence before the new legislation came into force, landlords were required to send a Written Statement of their converted Occupation Contract before 1 June 2023.The Act also requires that whenever a change occurs in the terms of the Occupation Contract (except a change in rent) then a new statement needs to be served to all of the contract holders and any guarantors.Such changes could include an agreement on having pets in the property, adding a new contract holder to the agreement (which is easier now), removing a contract holder from the agreement or changing the rent payment date.This statement could be a complete statement of all of the terms of the Occupation Contract, most of which will still be the same, or a Statement of Variation which just shows terms that have changed and how they have been changed. Any new contract holders would need to see the complete terms of the Occupation Contract.A change in terms again requires that the landlord issue the written statement (in full or just the amended terms) within 14 days of the change.While landlords and agents will generally know when terms have been changed because they will have agreed to them, there are a few situations where they need to be careful and the need to issue a Written Statement may arise without them being fully aware. A few situations come to mind:Change in Contract Holder – a request can be received to add a contract holder or a joint contract holder can serve notice to withdraw from an Occupation Contract. The addition of a contract holder will be deemed as accepted if the landlord does not reply. Both of these changes would require the landlord to issue a Written Statement of the changes, but if the landlord is monitoring requests/notifications properly they could occur without him realising it.Move From Fixed Term to Periodic Contract – the new legislation sees the move from fixed term to periodic as a change in contractual terms. The Welsh Government model occupation contracts have completely different templates for a fixed term and a periodic contract. If you are using these templates then within 14 days of the change to a periodic contract you need to issue the new periodic occupation contract to all contract holders and guarantors. If you are using another occupation contract template then it is possible that it will be a dual contract, incorporating fixed term clauses and periodic term clauses. All good occupation contract templates will be dual contracts, but make sure you know if this is the case.Enactment by the Welsh Assembly – the Act can be amended at any point by the Welsh Government. If these amendments change fundamental provisions in the Occupation Contracts then contract holders are legally required to be informed of these changes by the landlord or agent. This would need to be done within 14 days of the amendment passing in the Assembly. Again, if landlords are not keeping an eye out for enactments then they could fail to meet their obligation to issue a new Written Statement or Statement of Variation.No Written Statement, So What ?As I have said in a number of talks about the new legislation, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act is different in that it has teeth and it will bite you even if you try to ignore it. If you fail to send a Written Statement then there are consequences, potentially quite serious consequences. These consequences apply to not serving the initial Written Statement or any subsequent Written Statement or Statement of Variation.Failure to serve a Written Statement at the start of the Occupation Contract leads to the following penalties:For every day that the Written Statement is late, the contract holders can claim a day of rent as compensation up to a maximum of 2 months’ rent. They do not need to go to court for this, they can merely withhold it from the rent they pay to the landlordWhile a Written Statement is late in being served it is not possible to serve a no fault eviction notice, and any notice served will be thrown out by CourtAfter late service of a Written Statement you cannot serve a no fault eviction for the next 6 monthsThese same consequences are in place for failure to serve the Written Statements for converted contracts before the end of May 2023, as well as for any changes in contract terms within 14 days of the change.In addition to this, if you serve an incomplete or inaccurate Written Statement there are also consequences. For each day that an incomplete or incorrect Written Statement is served then the contract holders can claim a day of rent as compensation up to a maximum of 2 months’ rent.These are not consequences you want to suffer !If you still have questions about the new contractual terms then do contact us through the website and I will do my best to answer your questions.

Ok, so there is a massive amount of confusion about written statements and what is required.So, apologies for the long post, but I hope this is going to clarify what this is all about and the options that each landlord has to do.The New Legislation Requirements for Written StatementsThe much-awaited Renting Homes Wales Act came into force on 1 December 2022. This brought about the biggest changes in decades to the way property is rented in Wales, and removed many terms from the law that we know and understand well, such as tenants, tenancy agreements, section 21 and section 8.In the past it was possible, if not advisable, to move a tenant into a property on a handshake, with no written tenancy agreement. The new legislation makes it a legal requirement to issue contract holders (what we used to know as tenants) with a written statement of the terms of their occupation contract. This can be either in hard, paper copy, or by email.Landlords are required to issue contract holders with this written statement within 14 days of their occupation of the property, or within 14 days of a change in their terms of occupation, such as a renewed occupation contract.What is a Written Statement ? Is it different from an Occupation Contract ?I know this causes massive confusion amongst landlords and to be fair it is not very clear.Think about it like this, when someone rents a property an occupation contract is automatically created, it is not something physical, but a legal contract has been entered into. The new legislation defines many of the terms of this new contractual arrangement, but you can also add additional clauses into the occupation contract.The written statement is just the physical or electronic documentation of that occupation contract. For new occupation contracts this written statement needs to be issued within 14 days of occupation. The reality is though that most landlords will issue and sign the written statement before the contract holder moves in so that you are sure you agree to all of the terms of the occupation contract.I think where a lot of the confusion over this terminology has come is due to transitioning tenancies, ones that were in existence before 1 December 2022. For these tenancies, the new legislation automatically turned them into occupation contracts on 1 December. These are what are called converted occupation contracts.Because the new legislation changed many of the clauses that existed in transitioning tenancies, there is a requirement that landlords issue the tenants, now the contract holders, with a written statement of their converted occupation contract terms.This is what the Written Statement is for transitioning tenancies, not a new contract.How to do a Written StatementYour tenancy agreements were automatically converted into occupation contracts by the new legislation on 1 December 2022, and lots of new clauses were entered into that occupation contract by the legislation.The written statement for these converted occupation contracts is a result of merging your previous tenancy and the new occupation contract terms. You cannot use the opportunity to insert new clauses into the occupation contract, apart from those defined by law.Here is how you do this complicated merger:Take your tenancy agreement and your written statement template (ideally a combined fixed term and periodic written statement)Use the written statement as the starting pointInsert key terms – property details, landlord information and contact details, contract holder information, original tenancy start date, rent as of 1 December 2022, rental period, payment date, duration of any fixed term of the tenancy remaining, deposit detailsLook through each of the tenancy termsAre any tenancy terms incompatible with fundamental terms in the written statement? If so, then ignore these terms of the tenancyOf the remaining tenancy terms, are any incompatible with supplementary terms in the written statement? If so, then remove this supplementary term from the written statement and replace it with the term from the tenancyFinally, any remaining tenancy terms form part of the occupation contract as additional terms and should be included as such in the written statementYou have now got your written statement. Congratulations ! You deserve a stiff drink after that !Now you need to serve it to your contract holders, as well as the RHW02 form, before the end of May and make sure you have proof that it has been served.Your 3 Options for the Written Statements1. Do NothingUnlikely as it seems, there are some who have buried their head in the sand in the belief that if they ignore it long enough it will go away. It won’t, and you may find yourself in some deep trouble if you do this. It is not too late to fix this though, but time is running out.2. Avoid By Issuing a New ContractMany landlords and agents thought that doing the written statement process above, especially if they had a lot of properties to deal with, was far too complicated and time consuming.They believed, as did many others, that if they issued a new/replacement occupation contract starting after 1 December 2022 then as this new contact would end the previous arrangements, they would avoid having to issue a written statement for the converted occupation contract.However, the Welsh Government recently issued clarification that this was not the case.Let’s take an example to clarify. In this example, you issued a replacement/substitute occupation contract on 1 April 2023 for a tenancy that was converted on 1 December 2022. Let’s also assume that you issued and signed the written statement of this occupation contract (i.e. the paper or email contract) with the contract holders before 1 April, as you would expect.The clarification from the Welsh Government means that even though you issued a written statement for the new occupation contract on 1 April 2023, you still need to issue another written statement for the converted occupation contract to cover the period 1 December 2022 to 1 April 2023.This has caught a lot of landlords out. They issued a replacement occupation contract and now have to go and issue a written statement too. Many will not realise that this is the case and come 1 June will be in breach of the new legislation, which could have serious consequences for them.3. Issue a Written Statement for the Converted Occupation ContractThis meets your legal obligations and must be done before the end of May 2023. If you do this then nothing else needs doing.Does the Contract Holder Have to Sign the Written Statement ?The short answer is no. You are not asking for their agreement to the written statement. The contract holders do not need to have read the written statement or to have understood it.The written statement is about the facts of their occupation of your property as of 1 December 2022. These facts, the terms of their occupation, were changed by the new law and the written statement merely informs them of the changes made by the law, outlining their new occupation terms.You just need to have served this written statement to contract holders, and as ever when you are required to do something you should really have a way to prove that this requirement has been met.More and more these days landlords need to document, document, document. If ever an issue goes to court, you need to be able to prove you have met your obligations.However, while a signature on the written statement from your contract holder is not required, it is a good thing to have as a landlord as it definitely shows they have received it. You can either have the written statement signed in hard copy or electronically, either one is equal proof of receipt.What if the Fixed Term Ends After 1 December 2022 ?If your tenancy was periodic on 1 December 2022 then once you have sent your written statement, hopefully before the end of May deadline, then there is nothing more you need to do. The contract holders can remain on a periodic basis indefinitely.However, if your tenancy was on a fixed term on 1 December 2022, then at some point thereafter it will move out of the fixed term and onto a periodic basis.Exactly what you have to do when this happens will depend on which written statement template you have used.Welsh Government TemplatesIf you have used the Welsh Government templates, then they have one written statement template for the fixed term occupation contract and a different written statement template for the periodic occupation contract. You should have used a fixed term template when you issued your written statement for the converted contract, because the statement is meant to reflect the converted occupation contract terms on 1 December 2022 and this was in the fixed term.The new legislation sees the transition from fixed to periodic terms of the occupation contract as a change in contract, requiring that you issue a new written statement of the now periodic occupation contract terms.Let’s take two situations to explain this, one with the fixed term ending before May 31 2023 and one with the fixed term ending on 1 August 2023:A tenancy with a fixed term ending on 1 April 2023A fixed term written statement needs issuing for the converted occupation contract terms that came into effect on 1 December 2022. You have until 31 May 2023 to issue this written statementAs the terms of the occupation contract changed on 1 April 2023, you also need to issue a written statement for the periodic occupation contract coming into effect on 1 April 2023. You have until 14 Jun to issue this periodic written statementA tenancy with a fixed term ending on 1 August 2023A fixed term written statement needs issuing for the converted occupation contract terms that came into effect on 1 December 2022. You have until 31 May 2023 to issue this written statementAs the terms of the occupation contract changed on 1 August 2023, you also need to issue a written statement for the periodic occupation contract coming into effect on 1 August 2023. You have 14 days from the start of this periodic occupation contract to issue this written statement i.e. until 15 August 2023If you fail to issue the new written statement for the periodic occupation contract then you are in breach of the new legislation.Templates Which Include Fixed and Periodic TermsMost good templates will include the terms applicable to fixed term occupation contracts and periodic occupation contracts within the same written statement. This is certainly the case for Training for Professionals and the NRLA template occupation contracts, and I am sure other professional landlord organisations.What this means is that when you serve one of these written statement templates, which you will need to do before the end of May 2023, the contract holder has already been informed of the terms applicable to the fixed term and the terms applicable to the periodic term of their occupation.Nothing more needs to be done, although if you want to be completely safe then you can issue a notification when the occupation contract changes to a periodic basis that from that point periodic terms in the occupation contract are applicable.Consequences of Not Doing a Written StatementFor those with their head in the sand hoping it will all go away, the new legislation has a lot more teeth than before and there are serious consequences for not meeting the legal requirement to serve a written statement.Failure to serve a written statement gives the contract holder the right to claim compensation equal to a day’s rent for every day the written statement is late. The maximum compensation that can be claimed for this is 2 month’s rent in compensation. The contract holder can withhold this compensation from the rent paid.If you serve a written statement, but it is incomplete or incorrect then the same compensation can be claimed by the contract holder, up to 2 month’s rent.Furthermore, you cannot serve section 173 notice (no fault eviction) if you have been required to serve a written statement by a date which has now passed, and you have not served the written statement.You also cannot serve section 173 notice within 6 months of serving a written statement after its required service date. So, if you were required to serve a written statement by the end of May 2023, and did not serve it until 10 June 2022, you could not then serve a valid section 173 notice until 10 December 2023. So, there are real consequences, financial and otherwise, for not meeting your obligation to serve contract holders with the necessary written statements.Amendments to the Renting Homes Wales ActYou may have seen that the Welsh Government issued some new draft amendments to the Renting Homes Wales Act at the end of April. There has been much speculation that these changes mean we need to re-issue any written statements again and that a further written statement now needs to be issued by 15 June.Neither of these is correct. In fact, the changes published are very minor and help clarify a grey area in the previous legislation ensuring a common sense interpretation of this grey area.The issue that this amendment resolved could be summed up as follows:Tenancies which existed on 30 November 2022 are automatically converted into occupation contracts on 1 December, these are called converted occupation contractsWritten statements for occupation contracts need to be issued within 14 days of occupation, except for converted occupation contracts which need to be issued by 31 May 2023Where a converted contract moves from fixed term to periodic term a new written statement needs to be providedConsider a converted fixed term contract that ends its fixed term on 1 September 2023. Neither contract holder or landlord serves notice to end the occupation so on 1 September the occupation becomes periodicA new written statement needs to be issued, but according to point 2 above this needs to have been served before the end of May. But we only knew as September approached that the occupation contract was going to move to a periodic basis. So, it was impossible to comply with the legislation and as of 1 September 2023 you are immediately in breach, with all the consequences this entails.The amendment clarifies the following:Where a substitute contract comes into existence after the end of May 2023, the landlord has 14 days from the start of that substitute contract to serve the written statementWhere a substitute contract comes into existence before the end of May 2023, the landlord has until 15 June 2023 to serve the written statementWhere, under a converted occupation contract, there has been a change in the identity of the contract holder a written statement needs to be served by 15 June 2023, or within 14 days of the date the landlord became aware of the change in contract holder, whichever is laterThere has been some disagreement on whether these amendments, which came into force on 1 June 2023, required further written statemen