Renting Homes Wales: Standard Occupation Contracts
Page updated 19 June 2023 - uploaded room only standard occupation contract
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Introduction
As of the 1st December 2022, the Renting Home (Wales) Act 2016 applies to all private rented properties in Wales. In particular, changing -
- property standards;
- grounds for possession and notice periods;
- prescribed information for occupants;
- how agreements are ended by occupants;
As part of these changes, private landlords in Wales can no longer use tenancy agreements when they let their properties. Instead, they must use Standard Occupation Contracts when starting an agreement. As a result, you as a landlord need to change your agreements and comply with the latest requirements.
Many of the terms within the contracts are required by law and landlords must provide an accurate written statement of the occupation contract (including any required clauses) or face penalties. This means it is essential that you use this new type of contract from 1 December instead of an AST.
If you already had tenants in place before 1 December, then the contract is a converted contract. You are given until May 31 2023 to issue an updated statement to them. For more information see our guide on converted contracts.
NRLA occupation contract template
While the Welsh Government has produced model occupation contracts for use in Wales, there are a number of elements in the contract that make it unsuitable for use by landlords.
To support landlords, the NRLA has produced its own occupation contract template that is more suitable. Amending or removing clauses that cause particular issue, and combining the fixed term and periodic contracts together into one document.
This finalised fixed term standard contract is now available for landlords to download and use for new agreements in Wales.
Converted contracts
Converted contracts are contracts where the tenants moved in before 1 December 2022. These tenancies changed into occupation contracts on the 1 December. These type of contracts blend the terms of your previous AST and the new terms of occupation contracts together. They also have their own special rules and requirements that must be followed. Guidance on these contracts and resources is available here
Previously, the NRLA advised members to wait to issue the converted contract terms as we expected further legislation to come from the Welsh Government. On April 25th they published legislation updating and clarifying the position of converted contracts and renewals. Please see our converted contract page for further information on what to do next.
In order to access these contracts you need to register and log in as a member of the NRLA.
To join today and gain access to all contracts, forms and documents that you need to conform to the requirements of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act click below