Wales, your rights as a contract holder

Key Welsh law

• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, replaced traditional tenancies with occupation contracts in December 2022.
• Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, your home must be fit to live in for the duration of your contract.
• Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2 (WHQS2), the standard social landlords must meet by 2034.
• Housing (Wales) Act 2014, landlords and letting agents who rent out property in Wales must register with Rent Smart Wales.

Occupation contracts explained

Since December 2022, most agreements to rent a home in Wales are occupation contracts, not tenancies. If you rent from a private landlord you are usually a "contract-holder" under a standard occupation contract. If you rent from a council or housing association you usually have a secure contract. Either way, the fitness for human habitation duty below applies.

The fitness for human habitation duty

Under the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, it is an implied term of every occupation contract that your home is fit to live in when you move in and stays that way throughout your contract. This covers things like damp and mould, disrepair, and problems with the structure, water supply, or heating. If your landlord has been told about a problem and has not fixed it within a reasonable time, you may have a claim.

What about Awaab's Law?

Awaab's Law is English legislation, it does not apply in Wales. Welsh contract-holders are instead protected by the Renting Homes Act's fitness for human habitation duty and, for social housing, WHQS2. These cover similar ground to Awaab's Law but work differently, there is no separate fixed timescale written into Welsh law in the same way.