Compensating for Eviction in Wales

On 13 January the Welsh Senedd Committee on Local Government and Housing published a report on its enquiry into the Private Rented Sector in which it called for tenants to be compensated for eviction. This may well reappear in England as a result.

One of the areas that the Committee was interested in is the continued existence of evictions without specific reasoning in Wales. Especially as these are now banned in Scotland and will, presumably, shortly be banned in England under the Renters’ Rights Bill. The Welsh government has been reluctant to end these evictions on the basis that it would be forced to create alternative possession grounds for landlords to move back in or to sell as exist or are being created in England and so the net benefit for tenants would be minimal.

However, the Senedd committee pressed the Welsh government to allow tenants to retain the last two months of rental payments in the event they were served with such a notice to give them the means to pay for the move to a new property. This was a recommendation pressed by Generation Rent. In the plenary debate on 15 January 2025 the Welsh Government accepted this recommendation and they stated that they would look to bring it into law in due course. In fact, they accepted most of the recommendations in the report.

There were other recommendations around Property MOTs, greater enforcement powers for local authorities, banning of rent in advance, permission for pets, greater limits on guarantor’s obligations, and preventing rent increases that are over the market rate.

While these changes are all relevant in Wales they are also relevant in England as, ultimately, the government in both places is Labour-dominated, even if they have slightly different positions on a range of issues. There is also something of a dialogue between the legislation in both places as there are things that are on the table in Wales that England has already taken forward and vice versa.

So, in England it has long been the case that rent increases can be contested to the Tribunal on the basis that they exceed the market rent. Wales previously had a similar provision but inexplicably removed it in the passing of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act. They seem to have recognised this error. There is also interest in allowing pets, something the Renters’ Rights Bill does. The RRB also has new obligations on landlords regarding discrimination, which are extended to Wales. The RRB is also limiting rent in advance and it seems Wales is keen on doing the same.

Looking the other way the demand that tenants should be entitled to some form of compensation when they are asked to leave a property as a result of some issue which is not their fault has been pressed by the Renters’ Reform Coalition (of which Generation Rent is a member) in England. The success on this in Wales will undoubtedly make them push harder and it remains a real risk that this will find its way into the RRB in England.

There is also a longer-term consideration. It is clear that in both England and Wales the needle is moving toward greater rights for renters. When it comes to property standards that is not very surprising or particularly objectionable. It gets harder to justify in other areas. But, in truth, a lot of the problem from the perspective of landlords has much less to do with the rights afforded to renters than the severe lack of supply which pushes unsuitable tenants into the PRS, the overwhelmed courts which leads to unacceptable delays in dealing with problems, and the poor funding of local authorities which leads to inequitable enforcement. Rights matter, but so does effective mechanisms by which those rights are enforced. One without the other leads to unjust outcomes.