Changes to Welsh contracts from 1st June 2026

The Renter's Rights Act is legislation aimed primarily at England but it does affect occupation contracts in Wales by inserting new fundamental terms into most occupation contracts.

These new terms prevent discrimination against families and tenants receiving benefits in Wales. You can read more in our full guidance on the changes here. 

None of the other rules in the Renters' Rights Act, such as the ban on fixed term tenancies, the changes to possession grounds, or the ban on taking rent in advance will apply to Welsh landlords. In Wales, these requirements come into force on 1 June 2026.

When does this apply to my occupation contract?

The terms below will be inserted into your occupation contract on 1st June unless you, or your superior landlord, have taken out insurance before 1st June that restricts you from accepting tenants in receipt of benefits or allowing children to live in or visit the property. In these cases, the changes to your occupation contract do not apply until the existing insurance product ends. Once it does, you will need to serve this statement of variation within 14 days. 

How do I comply with these requirements?

If the changes to your contract apply, you will need to add new clauses to the occupation contract. This needs to be given to the tenants by 14 June 2026.

You can either give this to your tenants by providing an updated copy of your full written statement of terms, or by providing a statement of variation explaining the changes. 

If you used the NRLA standard occupation contract to create your tenancy

If you have used the NRLA standard occupation contracts, members can comply by sending the statement of variation below to all of their tenants.  This wording has been adjusted to reflect our own tenancy formatting.

The statement of variation template is content reserved exclusively for members. 

Contracts started on or after 1st June 2026

If you are entering into a contract from 1st June 2026, it will no longer be possible to agree an insurance product that would restrict tenants in receipt of benefits or children. With that in mind, the occupation contracts on the NRLA site have been updated to include the changes as standard. 

Converted contracts

If your tenancy is a converted contract (ie it began before 1st December 2022), then the wording of the statement of variation will change depending on which provider you used. 

For those converted contracts based on the Welsh Government's model written statements, you can find wording for the statement of variation here. 

This wording is suitable if you used the NRLA templates for converted contracts found here. 

If you used a different provider

If you have used a different provider for your occupation contract, we recommend contacting them for the wording of your statement of variation.