RENT SMART WALES INFOMATION

The following page provides a number of frequently asked questions. Click on the question to find the answer. If you can't find the answer to a question you have, please contact Rent Smart Wales.

What is Rent Smart Wales?

Rent Smart Wales is a service within Cardiff Council, in place to administer the requirements for landlord registration and agent and landlord licensing under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. The Welsh Ministers formally designated Cardiff Council on the 1st April 2015. This means Cardiff Council are the Licensing Authority who will do this work for every local authority area in Wales.
The reason the Welsh Government chose one Council to act as administrator for the whole of Wales is to make the service easier for landlords, agents and tenants to access. The central register means that a landlord only has to complete one registration and if they self- manage, only apply for one licence to cover them for the whole country. The same applies to agents, who need only apply for one licence.

The Licensing Authority will work with local authorities to carry out their functions under the Act. Local authorities for each area may lead enforcement action against those landlords and agents not complying with their legal obligations on behalf of the Licensing Authority.

In order to offer a complete service for the private rented sector in Wales, Rent Smart Wales also has information available to assist tenants living in, or looking to live in, the private rented sector. This includes a Tenant Guide, which can be found on the Tenants Page.

Landlord Accreditation Wales: FAQs

Landlord Accreditation Wales transfer: What have we done?

On the 29th of March we transferred all of the training records and information for nearly 4,500 members of Landlord Accreditation Wales (LAW) to the Rent Smart Wales system. In this process we have either created a personal user account on our website or updated an existing one. Within your personal user account you can complete a Landlord Registration, License as a Landlord/Agent and book or complete training.

Why have we done it?
We have transferred this information to our Rent Smart Wales system to make the transition for our Landlord Accreditation Wales (LAW) members easier.

With the new law for landlords and agents in Wales to comply with, we wish to help people who previously signed up to LAW transition into the new legal system. We have done this by migrating most of the information you provided when you signed up to LAW into your Rent Smart Wales user account. This user account also includes a record of the training that LAW members attended when they were originally accredited, allowing them to qualify for a Licence without having to repeat that training; they may only need to complete an online top up to let them know all about the new Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

What do I need to do?

Landlord
If you are a Landlord in Wales then you will need to make sure that your properties are registered. You can do this via our website in your personal user account. When you log into your account you can create a new registration and then apply for a Landlord Licence if you are responsible for managing your properties. You may also need to complete a training top up to qualify for your Licence.

If you are a Landlord, or an employee of a landlord, who completed training with LAW before the 6th August 2015, you will need to complete the free online top up course “Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014: An Overview”. You can book this now by accessing your Training Record in your personal user account. Please note that the online top ups are only free for the first 3 months for LAW members (until 29th June 2016).

If you completed LAWs training on or after the 6th August 2015 then your training record is sufficient for your Licence. Your training course will have included all the information about the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, so you will not need to complete the further top up training course.

Agent
If you are an Agent, or the employee of an Agent, that is instructed by a Landlord to carry out letting/management work for a rental property in Wales, then you will need to apply for an Agent Licence. You can complete this via your personal user account on the Rent Smart Wales website.

You will also need to complete a training top up to qualify for your licence. As an Agent you will always need to complete the free online “Supplementary Agent Development Training Course”. You can book this now by accessing your Training Record in your personal user account. Please note that the online top ups are only free for the first 3 months for LAW members (until 29th June 2016).

I have received an email from Rent Smart Wales, what is it for?

If we have created a new user account for you in the transfer you will now have received an email. This email informs you that you now have a user account and confirms what your username is for Rent Smart Wales. In most cases this will be the same username and password that you had for the Landlord Accreditation Wales website. If your username was already taken by another user then the email will tell you the new one that you have been allocated.

This email also contains a link to the website to allow you to log in. Once you have logged in you will have access to everything described above, via your personal user account.

What if I don’t have an email address?

If you do not have an email address or did not input one into the LAW website, we will not be able to send you your log in details via email.

Instead we will be sending the information out to you in the post. This may also mean that you have to complete paper Registration and Licensing forms. Please get in contact with us to let us know if you need these sent out as well.

If you do now have an email address and want to access the website online, you can contact us on 03000 133344 and we can add this to your account and send you an email to allow you access.

I already have an account with Rent Smart Wales and so I have not had my training record automatically transferred over. What do I need to do?

If you have previously created a user account with Rent Smart Wales we will not be creating you a duplicate account. We have been keeping a track of Landlord Accreditation Wales members who have created Rent Smart Wales user accounts and we have tried not to include any of those in the transfer. We will be manually going into your account and uploading your training record. Once this is done, we will let you know and you will be able to continue with the process, either by applying for a Licence or completing the necessary top ups.

If you have already created a user account but you have also had an email from us telling you about a new account, then we may have missed your account in our crosschecks. If you contact us to let us know, we will be able to merge your training record with the original user account that you created. Once this is done we will let you know and you will be able to complete any top ups and applications that you need.

I am a landlord in Wales; how do I register and what do I have to do?

The cheapest and easiest way to register is on-line. This can be done through the Rent Smart Wales website. First you must create an account on the website, and then you will be guided through the registration process. Start Process

Before you start you will need the following things:

If you are an individual landlord

If you are part of a joint landlord arrangement

If you are a company/charity landlord

If you are a trustee for a rental property in Wales

If you are an individual landlord:

The registration will ask for your name, date of birth, correspondence details and then the full address of each rental property in Wales you are the landlord for. It is best to have the postcode of your rentals to help you input the correct details in the on-line form. You must then pay the landlord fee of £33.50 to complete your registration. Payment can be made on-line.

If you complete your registration using the paper form the fee is £80.50 and you can pay over the phone.

Once you have completed your registration you will receive confirmation and be provided with a unique registration number.

If you self-manage any rentals you register, you must then proceed to apply for a landlord licence. To find out more about this process, read the 'how to obtain a landlord licence' section.

If anyone other than you undertakes any letting or management work at one of your rental properties in Wales, they are called an agent and they will need to become licensed. Letting and property management work is doing things, for instance, like marketing and setting up a domestic tenancy with new tenants (often termed let-only services), or managing a tenancy for you.

Read the full definition of letting and management work here.

Any agent you instruct will need to be declared by you on your registration against the rental address they let or manage. This agent must apply for a licence. It is best to have your agent’s full details (including full trading name and e-mail address and licence number if they already have one) in order to put their correct details on your registration.

If you are part of a joint landlord arrangement:

The registration will ask you to identify yourself as the lead landlord for registration purposes. You will then have to provide your name, date of birth, correspondence details and also the name and date of birth of the other joint landlords. You will also have to provide the full address of each rental property in Wales you jointly own. It is best to have the postcodes of the rentals to help you input the correct details on the on-line form. You must then pay the landlord fee of £33.50 to complete your registration. Payment can be made on-line.

If you complete your registration using the paper form the fee is £80.50 and you can pay over the phone.

Once you have completed the registration you will receive confirmation and be provided with a unique registration number for the joint landlord arrangement.

If you self-manage any rentals you register, you will then need to proceed with applying for a licence. To find out more about this process, read the 'how to obtain a landlord licence' section.

If a joint landlord who is not the lead landlord for registration purposes does any letting or management activities at a property on the register, they must separately obtain a landlord licence. The lead landlord for registration purposes must declare this licensable landlord in the registration against any rental address they act at.

If anyone else, other than the registering landlord (or another joint landlord) undertakes any letting or management work at one of your rental properties in Wales, they are called an agent and they will need to become licensed. Letting and property management work is doing things, for instance, like marketing and setting up the tenancy with new tenants (often termed let-only services), or managing a tenancy for you. Read the full definition of letting and management work here.

Any agent you instruct will need to be declared by you on your registration against the rental address they act at. This agent must apply for a licence. It is best to have your agent’s full details (including full trading name and e-mail address and licence number if they already have one) in order to put their correct details on your registration.

If you are a company/charity landlord:

If you are part of a company/charity who is a landlord you must complete the registration providing the company/charity details, including any Companies House or other relevant Registration number. Otherwise you work through the process the same as if you are an individual named person.

If you are a trustee for a rental property in Wales:

If the property is owned in trust, one trustee can register the property under the collective name of the trust.

I want to register on-line but I am the landlord for a lot of rental properties in Wales. Is there a way I can upload my properties to the register rather than input them individually?

The online process works best when all the properties are individually added to your registration. However, there is now the functionality to import multiple records at the same time, making the process faster and easier for landlords to add a moderate or large number of registered properties. We have created a guide in order to help you with this process. This can be downloaded by clicking here.

Can an agent register on behalf of a landlord?

Only the landlord can complete the registration. This will either be the individual named landlord, a lead named landlord on behalf of a joint arrangement, or a member of the company, charity or trust who is the landlord. An agent or someone else cannot do it on behalf of a landlord. This is because the person completing the registration has to verify that the information being registered is true and accurate and they are personally responsible for the record.

The registration process can be completed on-line and therefore can be done by a landlord quickly and easily from wherever they may be based.

How much does it cost to register as a landlord?

A landlord registration costs £33.50 if completed on-line and £80.50 if done on a paper application form.

This is the cost for each landlord registration, no matter how many rental properties in Wales are included in the registration. A separate registration must be done for each landlord arrangement a landlord is part of; so if a landlord was registering some properties in sole ownership, some as part of a joint landlord arrangement and also some in company ownership this would be three separate registrations, so three fees would be payable.

A higher fee is charged for a paper application as it takes more time for Rent Smart Wales to process.

What information is made publicly available about a registered landlord or licensed landlord/agent?

The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 states in Schedule 1 what information must be provided about a registered landlord, property or licensed landlord or agent if a request is made to the Licensing Authority.

You can obtain this information using our public register by clicking here and searching by property address, landlord’s name, agent’s name or landlord and agent reference numbers.

What are the fees collected for landlord registration and landlord and agent licensing used for?

Money received in fees will pay for the running costs of Rent Smart Wales. This includes work to make sure licensed people comply with their licence conditions, complaints from tenant’s are investigated and proactive enforcement work is undertaken by local authorities in Wales to make sure those people who try to ignore their legal obligations are made to comply or face sanctions.

Fee income is not collected to make a profit.

Do I need to include rental properties I have outside of Wales in my registration?

You do not need to include the addresses of any rental property you own outside of Wales on your registration. Only properties located in Wales need to be declared.

How to obtain a landlord licence and how long does it last?

You can apply for a licence online on this website. In order to do so you must first create a personal account.

You can request a paper licence application form by contacting Rent Smart Wales on 03000 133344 or you can download a form to complete and return by post (for the paper fee) on our Resource Page.

To submit a valid licence application, all the information required must be submitted, the correct fee must be paid, evidence of suitable landlord training must be provided and the 'fit and proper' person declaration must be completed.

The training that a landlord must do in order to obtain a licence can either be done direct with Rent Smart Wales, or an approved course can be completed with a training provider authorised by Rent Smart Wales. To read more about the licensing training requirement go to the 'what training must I do to obtain a licence?' section

Once a complete licence application is submitted to Rent Smart Wales it will be assessed to determine if a licence can be granted. This will involve confirming the application is complete and the correct fee has been paid. Rent Smart Wales must also be satisfied the landlord is ‘fit and proper’ (by ensuring they have no relevant convictions against them) and confirm the training completed by the applicant and/or their staff as part of the application is suitable for licensing purposes. Licences can be refused if the applicant is not deemed ‘fit and proper’.

If a licence is awarded the landlord will receive notification of their unique licence number and the conditions attached to their licence. The landlord will also receive a licence card in the post.

How long does a licence last?
Once a landlord is licensed it lasts for 5 years. During that time the applicant must keep the information in their licence application up to date (for instance updating correspondence details if they change) and also comply with the conditions of the licence. One condition will always be to adhere to the Code of Practice. The Code of Practice has been created by the Welsh Government as a way to ensure a consistent standard of letting and management practice in Wales. You can read a copy of the Code here

If a licence holder fails to comply with any condition of their licence, or is no longer ‘fit and proper’, their licence can be revoked. This is a serious action as it would mean a landlord could no longer control the letting and management activities at their rental properties. Instead they would have to instruct a licensed agent to do the work on their behalf.

Licence Checklist for a Landlord:

The applicant (Individual, Body Corporate, Company, Charity or Trust) must complete an application providing relevant information, including contact details, about the applicant.

In the application all ‘connected persons’ (employees of the applicant) who do letting and/or management work at a property in Wales must be named and their date of births provided.

The licence fee must be paid (online application = £144, paper application = £186)

The applicant and/or all connected users must be suitably trained to the landlord standard (read training options: https://www.rentsmart.gov.wales/en/training/)

The fit & proper declaration must be made

Once a completed application is submitted it can take up to 8 weeks for Rent Smart Wales to determine it and either grant a licence, or refuse it.

General

Landlord Registration

Landlord and Agent Licensing

Who needs to register and obtain a licence?