Your campaigns update: all the latest PRS consultations in Wales

Public Affairs Officer Joshua Helm-Cowley provides the latest update on our work in Wales, on everything from building safety to empty properties and more.

The Senedd is back in full swing after the summer recess, but our work didn’t stop over the summer, with the  NRLA policy and public affairs team meeting with the cabinet secretary for Housing, committee chairs and members, key MSs and Welsh Government officials.

We used to the opportunity to put forward our vision for the Welsh PRS, and raise our concerns about the crisis in confidence among Welsh landlords and consequent decline in supply of homes for rent. 

We also responded to several consultations on key issues including empty properties, building safety and leasehold, and the upcoming Welsh Budget.

Empty properties consultation

The Senedd’s housing committee has made empty properties a key part of its early work, launching a follow-up inquiry during the summer. In our response, we explained that the main issue facing the Welsh private rented sector is not a vast number of empty properties, but a lack of overall supply of homes.

Long-term empty homes make up around just 1.6% of Welsh housing stock, and the 23,033 currently empty properties would meet fewer than three years’ of new housing need. Meanwhile, over 12,000 landlords and 4,443 properties left the sector over the last Senedd term. 

We also raised the issue the Leasing Scheme Wales (LSW), which is due to end in January 2027 when its initial five-year funding period ends.

This has caused significant uncertainty as many local authorities have signed contracts beyond that period.

We have asked for clarity on whether the remaining years included in those contracts will be funded, and what scheme, if any, will replace it.

Building safety and leasehold

We also responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation on implementing the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026, which aims to ensure responsibility and costs for building safety defects fall on the right people. 

We support these aims and welcomed the proposed rules on qualifying and replacement leases, remediation orders and remediation contribution orders, cost recovery from those responsible and standard forms to reduce disputes. 

 In our response we were clear that the rules must be fair and practical and want further conversations with the Welsh Government as to the ‘associated persons’ test for remediation contribution orders to ensure landlords with no genuine responsibility for a defect aren’t caught up in it.

We also want to determine the thresholds for judging a landlord’s capacity to comply with a remediation order and how costs are recovered if a responsible previous landlord becomes insolvent. 

Many of you are both landlords and leaseholders and we want assurances no-one should be treated as non-compliant just because a freeholder or another landlord in the chain hasn’t replied to a reasonable request for information.

We also want to know how the £2 million net worth threshold will apply to small landlord companies owning several leasehold properties.

Draft Welsh Budget 2027-28

The Welsh Government is due to publish its draft 2027-28 Budget on 17th November, following the Senedd’s Finance Committee consultation over the summer. 

Our principal ask was for measures to increase supply and improve housing standards, with arresting the decline in the number of PRS homes vital to improving affordability.

We also called for a full rebate of Land Transaction Tax (LTT) on properties let through LSW or any future equivalent scheme. LSW played a critical role in helping people move out of temporary accommodation into safe, secure homes provided by private landlords. However, only around 700 homes were enrolled, well short of the target.

The combination of the current LTT regime and frozen LHA rates meant too many landlords could not afford to take part, and a rebate would make it more financially viable. 

Our second ask was a comprehensive strategy to help landlords retrofit their properties, including low-interest loans for energy efficiency work.

Private rented homes must reach EPC C by 1st October 2030 unless exempt, yet 43% of homes in Wales were built before 1919, and, as such, are typically far costlier to upgrade.

Landlords are also barred from applying to schemes such as Green Homes Wales, which is limited to owner-occupiers, something we are asking the Government to rethink.

Keep in touch

As the Government pushes ahead with its plans to reform the sector in Wales, our work will only increase. In all our meetings we will put across your views and work towards a sector that works for tenants and landlords. 

We will keep you updated on all the key developments via our news site, enewsletters and social media channels, so make sure you are signed up.