Landlords urged to have their say on the Welsh Government’s plan to cap rents

Landlords in Wales are being urged to have their say on the Welsh Government’s green paper on fair rents and adequate housing – which could see rent controls in the private rented sector.

To help, the National Residential Landlords’ Association (NRLA) has put together a toolkit to help landlords understand the consultation and respond appropriately.

The toolkit has been developed by NRLA experts and offers guidance and suggested responses for each section.

There are also useful links and research for landlords to use as evidence in their responses.

Rent controls are not the solution to the housing crisis

The NRLA believes that rent controls are not the solution to the housing crisis in Wales because they will reduce the supply and quality of rental housing, and discourage investment and innovation.

Rent controls will also harm tenants, the NRLA adds, and they will also face higher competition and lower rented housing standards.

The landlords’ organisation has been representing the sector’s views in the Welsh Government’s working groups but is now calling for more landlords to share their experiences and opinions.

Rent controls in Wales

While the green paper is not a final policy, it is a way of gathering feedback and ideas for a future White Paper on rent controls in Wales which would then be the basis for a potential law.

This means there is still time to influence the outcome and prevent rent controls from becoming a reality.

The NRLA says that having more landlords respond to the consultation, the stronger the case against rent controls will be.

The consultation closes on 15th September and the NRLA’s toolkit to respond to the Welsh Government’s Fair Rents consultation can be found here.