Rent Smart Wales: what landlords and tenants need to know

Rent Smart Wales is the compulsory registration and licensing scheme for private landlords in Wales. If you let out a home in Wales, you must register with it, and if you manage the property yourself, you also need a licence. For tenants, it is a way to check that a landlord is operating lawfully, and it gives you real protection if they are not. Here is how the scheme works for both sides, and why it matters more than the modest fees might suggest.

What is Rent Smart Wales?

Rent Smart Wales was set up under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, with enforcement beginning in 2016. Its purpose is to raise standards in the private rented sector by making sure landlords and agents understand their legal responsibilities. It is run centrally for the whole of Wales, administered by Cardiff Council.

The scheme has two separate requirements that are often confused: registration and licensing. It also maintains a public register, so that anyone, including a prospective or current tenant, can check whether a particular landlord or agent is registered and licensed.

Do I need to register, or register and get a licence?

This is the distinction that trips people up, because registration and licensing are not the same thing.

Every landlord with a rental property in Wales must register themselves and the property. You have to do this yourself, you cannot ask an agent to register on your behalf. Separately, if you carry out the letting or management work yourself, viewings, setting up contracts, choosing tenants, collecting rent, arranging repairs, you must also hold a licence. Getting one means completing approved training and being assessed as a “fit and proper person”. If, instead, you appoint a licensed letting agent to do all the letting and management, you do not need a licence yourself, but you still have to register and declare your agent. In short: everyone registers; only self-managing landlords need a licence.

Who has to register, and who’s exempt?

The requirement applies to anyone letting a home in Wales on an occupation contract, however many properties they have, even a single one. Where the landlord lives makes no difference; what matters is that the property is in Wales. So a landlord living in Bristol or London who lets a flat in Cardiff must still register with Rent Smart Wales. If you take on a new rental property, you generally need to register it within 28 days.

Not everything is caught by the scheme. Holiday lets, commercial and agricultural lettings, resident landlords who simply share with a lodger, university-managed student accommodation, and social landlords all fall outside it. If you are not sure whether you are exempt, it is worth checking rather than assuming.

What does it cost, and how long does it last?

The fees are modest. Registering online costs £62, covers the landlord whatever number of Welsh properties they hold, and lasts five years. A self-managing landlord’s licence costs more, currently £254 online, plus the cost of the required training, and it also lasts five years. Fees are reviewed from time to time, so check the Rent Smart Wales website for the current figures before you apply.

What happens if a landlord isn’t registered or licensed?

This is where the scheme has real teeth, and where those modest fees can be misleading. Failing to comply is a criminal offence, and the consequences go well beyond a one-off penalty. Local authorities enforce the rules, and a non-compliant landlord can face a fixed penalty notice; prosecution and an unlimited fine; a rent stopping order, made by the Residential Property Tribunal Wales, which stops rent being payable for a period (with the tenant treated as having paid it); and a rent repayment order, under which the landlord can be ordered to repay up to 12 months’ rent.

The single most important consequence, though, is this: a landlord who is not registered and licensed, or who is not using a licensed agent, cannot serve a valid Section 173 notice, the “no-fault” notice used to end an occupation contract. In practice, that means an unregistered landlord cannot seek a no-fault eviction until they put their compliance right. For landlords, that is a powerful reason to register; for tenants, it is a significant protection.

I’m a tenant, how do I check, and what are my rights?

You can check your landlord, and any agent, on the free public register on the Rent Smart Wales website, searching by the property address or the landlord’s name. It takes only a moment and shows whether they are registered and licensed.

If your landlord is not registered or licensed, you have options. You can report them to Rent Smart Wales or your local council, which can take enforcement action. You may be able to apply for a rent repayment order to recover rent you have paid during a period of non-compliance. And, as above, a non-compliant landlord cannot use a no-fault Section 173 notice to evict you, so their failure to comply can directly affect their ability to remove you. Non-compliance often sits alongside other problems, such as a deposit that was never properly protected, which carry their own remedies.

How this fits with the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

Rent Smart Wales does not stand alone. Since 1 December 2022, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 has reshaped renting in Wales: tenancies became “occupation contracts”, tenants became “contract-holders”, and the old no-fault notice was replaced by the Section 173 notice, which now requires six months’ notice and cannot be used in the first six months of a contract. Rent Smart Wales registration and licensing is one of the conditions a landlord must meet before they can rely on a Section 173 notice at all, so the two regimes work together and a landlord must comply with both. Our overview of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 explains the wider changes; and if you are buying a property to let in Wales, our guide to Land Transaction Tax covers the higher rates that apply.

How we help

Our landlord and tenant team advises both landlords and contract-holders across South Wales and the South West. For landlords, that includes getting compliance right and handling possession properly; for tenants, it includes acting where a landlord is not registered, a deposit is unprotected, or an eviction has not followed the rules. To talk through your situation, request a callback and we will come back to you.

A note on figures: the fees and figures in this article are correct as at the date of publication shown on this article. Court fees, taxes and other charges change from time to time, so please check the current figures with the relevant official source before relying on them.