Welsh assembly
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Latest property news
Letting agents condemn ‘shock’ Welsh move to triple notice periods for tenants
An amendment before the Welsh assembly will give tenants at least a year from the start of a tenancy before they can be evicted via the 'no fault' process.
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Breaking: Welsh Assembly votes through its own tenant fees ban
Ban in Wales will now go live in August this year and will be enforced by both Rent Smart Wales and local housing authorities.
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Welsh tenant fees ban begins its passage into law, hot on the heels of England
The Welsh government has revealed its planned letting fees ban legislation after it was introduced to the country’s Assembly on Tuesday and, like its English counterpart, is likely to become law next year. The Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Bill is similar to the English system, banning almost all fees including those for accompanied viewings, inventories, contract signing and renewing a tenancy. Welsh agents will be allowed to charge tenants rent, security deposits, holding deposits and fees when a tenant breaches a contract. The bill also opens the way for deposits to be limited to an as-yet specified limit, will cap holding deposits at a week’s rent and establish a mechanism for prompt repayment of deposits. But enforcement of the new laws will be different, says Housing and Regeneration minister Rebecca Evans (pictured). Agents found charging prohibited fees will be issued £500 fixed penalty notices and, if these are not paid, prosecuted in a Magistrates Court and face unlimited fines. Enforcement will also be integrated into the recently-introduced agent licensing system, Rent Smart Wales. “This Bill builds on the work we have already done here in Wales through the Housing and Renting Homes Acts to ensure that those wishing to…
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Welsh buyers rush to complete before April 1st Stamp Duty hikes
A predicted rush to sell Welsh properties at the top end of its property market has been taking place in recent weeks as buyers have attempted to beat the April 1st deadline for the principality’s new devolved Stamp Duty regime. The way that the slabs of tax banding are now arranged in Wales mean the duty rises more harshly than in England for those who buy properties over £402,000, although the new system is more generous to those buying under this price threshold than the English system. Although a £402,000 buyer pays only £200 more than their English counterpart, the differences are more stark further up the value chain. For example, a home worth £500,000 in England attracts a Stamp Duty bill of £15,000 while the same purchaser in Wales will pay an LTT charge of £17,500. But a house worth £1.5 million will attract an LTT bill that’s £17,450 higher than a similar English property. Rush to complete Welsh law firm Geldards recently predicted that the changes would lead to a “stampede” in upmarket buyers completing before this Sunday. But removals website CompareMyMove.com, which is based in Wales, says overall the new LTT will benefit most ‘average’ Welsh buyers.…
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Will Wales now copy England’s fees ban?
High-profile Labour Welsh Assembly Member (AM) Jenny Rathbone has called for a tenant fees ban in Wales, despite voting against a similar proposal by Plaid Cymru last year. Her comments follow a 2012 ban in Scotland against tenant fees as well as last week’s announcement by the Chancellor that they are to be banned in England next year, following a consultation. Rathbone (pictured) has been active in Wales campaigning against fees. In a Senedd debate earlier this year she said “it should be the landlord paying the letting agency, not the tenant” and that “letting agencies are getting away with simply not providing a service in exchange for a fee”, in particular highlighting fees for taking properties off the market while contracts are drawn up. And Rathbone is worried that Wales is now seen as protecting tenants “less than in England and Scotland”, she told the BBC. But in Wales, unlike in England and Scotland, Rathbone is one of a relatively small group of politicians to campaign for a fees ban. Welsh ministers have taken the view recently that rents would rise if landlords are asked to pay for the cost of post-tenancy property cleaning, inventories, credit checks and references.…
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