Renting Homes (Wales) Act: what Swansea landlords must have in place in 2026

If you let a home in Swansea, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 has governed it since 1 December 2022. Tenants became contract-holders. Tenancies became occupation contracts. The things you had to do became a shorter, stricter list, each with a date on it.

Nearly four years on, the gaps we find when a property comes to us are still the same ones. Here is the list. General information, not legal advice; sources at the end.

1. Rent Smart Wales: registered, and licensed or using a licensed agent

If you own a rental property in Wales you must be registered with Rent Smart Wales, wherever you live. If you manage the property yourself, you also need a licence, which means completing approved training. If you would rather not, you appoint a licensed agent to manage it.

This is where enforcement happens. Rent Smart Wales issued 3,198 fixed penalty notices in the 12 months to May 2026, almost all, on Propertymark's analysis, for landlords not registered or not correctly licensed. Penalties are £150 or £250; ignore them and the route is rent repayment orders and prosecution.

The quieter consequence matters more. Under section 44 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, an unregistered or unlicensed landlord cannot serve a valid no-fault notice. Everything below assumes you have this in place.

2. A written statement within 14 days

Every occupation contract must be set out in a written statement, given to the contract-holder free of charge within 14 days of the occupation date.

Miss the 14 days and you cannot serve a section 173 notice for six months from the day you finally provide the statement, not from the move-in date. It is the most common gap we find on properties coming from self-management or from agents who learned the job in England.

3. Deposit protected within 30 days

A deposit can only be taken as money or a guarantee. Money must go into an authorised deposit scheme, with the scheme's initial requirements and the prescribed information completed within 30 days of payment. Section 45 makes this a fundamental term of every occupation contract; it cannot be contracted out of.

A deposit that was not protected properly is another bar on a no-fault notice.

4. Fit to live in: alarms and the electrical report

The Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022 set three physical requirements that most English guidance gets wrong for Wales:

• Smoke alarms on every storey, wired to the mains and interlinked. Battery-only alarms can be added but do not satisfy the duty alone.
• A carbon monoxide alarm in every room containing a gas, oil-fired or solid-fuel combustion appliance.
• An electrical condition report (an EICR) from a qualified person, with inspection and testing at intervals of no more than five years, and a copy to the contract-holder verify: exact copy-to-contract-holder timing under regulation 6.

The transition period for existing contracts ended on 30 November 2023. A home that fails these is treated as unfit for human habitation, and a landlord cannot rely on a no-fault notice while the home is unfit. A single battery alarm in the hallway of a two-storey terrace in Brynmill does not meet the standard.

5. Gas, EPC and the dates everyone already knows

These did not change with the Act but sit on the same calendar: a gas safety certificate every 12 months with a copy to the contract-holder; an EPC in date and rated E or above verify: current Welsh position on any proposed higher minimum; and, for shared houses, the HMO licence. In Swansea, additional licensing covers the Castle, Uplands, St Thomas and Waterfront wards under a scheme that took effect on 14 February 2026 and runs to 2031; mandatory licensing applies to larger HMOs citywide verify: current thresholds in Wales. Room-by-room lets are our sister brand hellomyroom's territory.

6. Fees and holding deposits

The Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019 limits what a landlord or agent can charge a contract-holder to rent, a security deposit, a holding deposit, limited default payments (a replacement key, late rent interest) and, where the contract says so, utilities and council tax. Nothing else.

The holding deposit is capped at one week's rent. You must give the prospective contract-holder specified information in writing before taking it, and can hold only one on a property at a time; skip the information and you lose the right to keep it. "Half a month's rent to hold it" is a prohibited payment, and taking one bars a no-fault notice until it is repaid.

7. Rent reviews: once a year, two months' notice, form RHW12

On a periodic standard contract you may vary the rent no more than once in any 12-month period, with at least two months' written notice on the prescribed form, RHW12, or a notice substantially to the same effect. Rent is not generally varied mid-way through a fixed term. There is no statutory cap on the amount, but a contract-holder can refer an increase to the Residential Property Tribunal for Wales.

The ONS puts Swansea's average private rent at £838 a month in May 2026, up 5.5% on the year. Street by street the figure moves a long way either side of that, which is what an annual review is for.

8. Ending a contract: six months, and the notices you cannot serve

Section 173 is the Welsh no-fault notice. For occupation contracts that began on or after 1 December 2022 it requires six months' notice, and it cannot be served within the first six months of occupation. On a fixed-term standard contract it cannot be served during the fixed term at all. Contracts converted from tenancies that existed before 1 December 2022 have transitional rules with a shorter notice period verify: current transitional position for converted contracts.

Pulling the list together: a section 173 notice is invalid where the landlord is not registered or licensed with Rent Smart Wales; the deposit was not properly protected; the written statement was late (six-month bar from the day it was provided); a prohibited payment was taken; or the home is not fit for human habitation. Fault-based routes for serious arrears or breach are separate and remain available.

What this looks like with an agent

None of this is difficult. All of it has a date. For every property we manage, the dates sit on one compliance calendar, from gas and electrical to licence renewals and written statements, and anything due is booked eight weeks out.

If you self-manage in Swansea and want your property checked against this list, we will do it without charge or a sales call: 01792 807 051, WhatsApp 0751 355 2133, or lettings@hellonewhome.co.uk. Or send the free rent review form and tick "tenanted, self-managed".

Hello New Home is a Rent Smart Wales licensed agent. Management fee 12% of rent, capped at £150 a month. Leave with 30 days' notice. Full fee sheet.

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Sources

• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, including s.45 (deposits) and s.173 (landlord's notice): legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2016/1
• Welsh Government, "Renting Homes: checklist for landlords and tenants"; "Issuing a valid landlord's notice" flowchart (February 2024)
• Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022
• Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, Schedule 1: legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2019/2
• Housing (Wales) Act 2014, s.44: legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2014/7/section/44
• Rent Smart Wales: gov.wales/rent-smart-wales; Swansea Council Rent Smart Wales page
• Propertymark, "Registration and licensing failures drive 96% of penalties" (12 months to May 2026)
• Swansea Council, "Changes to HMO licensing in Swansea in 2026"; Additional HMO Licensing (Castle, Uplands, St Thomas and Waterfront) Scheme 2025
• Form RHW12; Residential Property Tribunal for Wales decisions on rent variation
• ONS, "Housing prices in Swansea", private rents, May 2026