Consultation

169. In 2012, in the Housing White Paper, the Welsh Government announced its plans to develop new legislation to improve the arrangements for renting a home. It cited the Law Commission’s work and explained it would be the foundation for the proposed legislation. As stated earlier, the Law Commission’s work itself was the subject of extensive consultation.

170. The proposals brought forward in this Bill have been subject to a programme of consultation and engagement with stakeholders over the last three years. The programme comprised:

(i) Formal consultation on published documents;; (ii) Stakeholder engagement events across Wales;;

(iii) Information materials to communicate the proposals; and (iv) Regular meetings with stakeholders.

171. In early 2013, the Law Commission published the report "Renting Homes in Wales"20 The report updated the Commission’s original proposals and considered issues arising from their proposed implementation in Wales. the

172. In May 2013, the Welsh Government published a White Paper ““Renting Homes: A better way for Wales”21

setting out proposals for the legislation.

173. During the consultation period, the proposals were presented at three Welsh Government events in North, Mid and South Wales. These were accompanied by twenty other stakeholder events involving tenants and representative groups, community landlords, private landlords and a variety of third sector organisations that work in and around the field of housing. In all, more than 1,000 people listened to the proposals and took part in discussions.

174. The consultation on the White Paper, which ended on 16 August 2013, attracted over 170 responses. Overall, there was strong support for the proposals. The results are summarised in the table below.

Table 2: Overall levels of agreement or disagreement with key elements of proposals in “Renting Homes – A Better Way for Wales” Question Yes (%) No (%) Number of responses Do you support our proposals for changing the

legal framework for renting a home?

95 5 110

Do you agree that the standard contract should be based on the current assured shorthold tenancy?

91 9 100

Do you support the proposals in relation to each of the following issues:

a) Addressing the anti-social behaviour of some households

95 5 96 b) Dealing with domestic abuse 90 10 97 c) A more flexible approach to joint tenancies 94 6 94 d) Abandonment of the property by a tenant 97 3 93 e) Renting by young people 75 25 83 f) Standardising succession rights 92 8 85 g) Standardising eviction for rent arrears 75 25 84 h) Requiring landlords to ensure there are no

Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health & Safety Rating System

91 9 96

i) Abolishing the six-month moratorium on ‘no fault’ evictions

84 16 82 j) Establishing a legal framework for

supported housing

90 10 71 k) Bringing housing association Rent Act

tenancies within the Renting Homes framework

88 12 69

Source: Renting Homes White Paper (2013): Response to consultation

175. There was a consensus amongst those consulted that the reform of tenure law is necessary and would be a positive development. Comments suggested that reform is necessary in order to ensure that there is a single set of social occupation rights in Wales and to avoid scope for confusion. The transfer of housing stock from local authorities to new housing associations and the effects of switching between the two types of tenancies was also mentioned. It was pointed out that tenants of local authorities have slightly different rights from tenants of housing associations and there is difficulty in justifying the differences. Clear rights and simpler arrangements are needed.

applying to the various occupation contracts, as well as allowing space for insertion of the key matters and any additional terms.

177. Six consultation events were held at various locations around Wales. The events considered the “look” and “feel” of the model contract, how well the information is presented, and how easily it is understood.

178. The public consultation ended on 14 October 2014. 128 responses were received. The main points to emerge were:

89 per cent felt that the ‘Key Matters’ document was clearly laid out and easy to understand;

77 per cent support the ability to issue the contract and any notices required electronically;

69 per cent felt the layout and format of the Model Contract was easy to understand;

86 per cent felt the ‘Summary of the Model Contract’ was helpful in explaining what the sections of the contract mean in practice. 179. In addition to the consultations, the Welsh Government has undertaken

two surveys; a survey of private landlords and a survey of people who rent their homes.

180. The Private Sector Landlord survey was conducted by the Welsh Government in July 201423. A total of 530 responses were received. The purpose of the survey was to obtain up to date information on landlords’ views and practices for renting in the private sector. The main findings of the survey were:

74 per cent seek to rent their property for longer than six months;

Only 2 per cent of landlords prefer to rent their property for less than six months;;

47 per cent of landlords said the six-month moratorium means they are currently less likely to rent to those they considered “higher risk” tenants; and

98 per cent of landlords issued a written contract to tenants. 181. The Wales Omnibus Survey24was based on responses from a sample

of 364 tenants, the main findings were:

48 per cent of people living in the private rented sector had been in their current accommodation for one year or less;

At least 53 per cent of those surveyed were unable to identify correctly the type of agreement under which they rented their home;;

66 per cent of tenants had no input into the terms of their tenancy agreement; and

Almost 50 per cent of tenants had no knowledge of the succession rights that applied to their home.

182. In addition to the actions outlined above, bi-monthly stakeholder group meetings have taken place since late 2011. The stakeholder group representatives have provided valuable, and much appreciated, input on a number of policy issues. Their input to developing and building upon the Law Commission’s proposals for supported housing and helping develop the Welsh Government’s policy on fitness for human habitation and retaliatory eviction has been particularly helpful.