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Welsh Government must do more to support landlords says Conservative Senedd Member

10 Aug 2022 3 minute read
Janet Finch-Saunders

The Welsh Government needs to do more to support landlords in Wales as there is “an acute shortage of houses to rent across the nation”, a Conservative Senedd Member has said.

Janet Finch-Saunders, who is herself a landlord with seven properties, said that landlords were leaving the rental sector in Wales due to a lack of support.

She has called for the establishment of a new board comprised of figures from across the sector, including tenant and landlord bodies, which would prepare reports and make recommendations to the Welsh Government.

She also called for reform of Rent Smart Wales, the body that assists landlords to comply with their legal obligations.

“I agree with the National Residential Landlords Association that the Welsh Government should make a number of changes to ensure that Rent Smart Wales works for both tenants and the majority of good, responsible landlords in Wales who adhere to their legal duties,” she said.

“If the Welsh Government does not start taking steps to support good and responsible landlords, the housing crisis and rocketing reliance on temporary accommodation in Wales is going to get worse”.

‘Very difficult’

Janet Finch-Saunders, who is Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy and Shadow Minister with responsibility for housing, called on the Welsh Government to:

  • See RSW publish annual performance statistics that help give a clearer picture of how it is performing and inform policy making more widely;
  • Establish a new board comprised of figures from across the sector, including tenant and landlord bodies, which would have oversight of the work of RSW and the power to prepare reports and make recommendations to the Welsh Government;
  • Ensure that RSW is subject to an independent final evaluation by Audit Wales to establish if it is meeting its objectives and delivering value for money.

“Less than half of landlords have reported that finding information about how to comply with new duties under Rent Smart Wales was easy,” she said.

“At the same time, 49% reported it being difficult or very difficult to register with RSW, whilst 46% said that it was difficult or very difficult to find information about RSW.

“It has also been found that more than four in ten tenants are unaware of the existence of RSW.

“It is clear to me from speaking to tenants and landlords that RSW is not delivering for the rental sector. In fact, even today, RSW is reporting that they are currently unable to provide a telephone service and that such a situation may be the case for some time.”


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Dai Rob
Dai Rob
2 years ago

What planet is this woman on?!?!?
7 properties!! That’s 7 families deprived of owning a home…..
Evil!!!

Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
2 years ago
Reply to  Dai Rob

I commented elsewhere that this current crop of Conservatives takes self-obsession to new heights while maintaining utterly no self-awareness.
It is not just that they have no shame, they lack the morality to make them capable of shame.

hdavies15
hdavies15
2 years ago
Reply to  Dai Rob

Give her a break. She inherited all those properties from her 7 grannies ….

Gareth
Gareth
2 years ago

Rich Tory landlord, wants our Gov to give more support to landlords, while Tory PM candidate Truss, refuses to commit to giving help to the poor, amid a cost of living crisis. Who would have thought it could happen.

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
2 years ago

Well at least we know whose side the tories are on, as if we ever needed reminding.

Essentially what she is saying is: use public money to prop up the failing private sector.

Hogyn y Gogledd
Hogyn y Gogledd
2 years ago

Bloody difficult to find a rental when all the properties in your village are owned by people like her and whored out on airbnb.

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
2 years ago

Surely folk who do AirBnB are not stricktly Landlords. The Rent Smart Wales training that I underwent never mentioned AirBnB. Yes if your village is full of second homes let out for holidays it will be tough. From the article I was unsure what sort of support Janet Finch-Saunders is seeking for landlords. She seems very keen to add several layers of bureaucracy to Rent Smart Wales. However I thought the Tories hated bueaucracy. She also seems to have found that a lot of the other landlords she know are not very good at using the RSM website for the… Read more »

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
2 years ago

“The Welsh Govt do not want build social houses…” Wrong. Firstly, social housing is not built by the Welsh Government but is built by local councils (which is why they are called council houses). Admittedly local councils rely on the Welsh Government for cash which brings me on to: Secondly, the Welsh Government doesn’t have enough cash to fund the building of social housing by local councils. This is due to the inherent unfairness of the Barnett Formula (which is used by Westminster to decide how much money the Welsh Government gets in the first place). Successive Westminster governments, both… Read more »

NOT Grayham Jones
NOT Grayham Jones
2 years ago
Reply to  Barry Pandy

I will not argue with you about the reasons no social housing is being built however The Welsh Govt is not listening to Landlords who basically are the default providers of social housing. I personally was a private landlord up until last yr- i had 2 small terraced houses which i had let out for a number of years. I wasnt a bad landlord in fact one of the tenants rented for over 10 yrs ( with no rent increase) and only left when she inherited her mothers house. I however have now sold both the rentals due to regulations… Read more »

Adrienne
Adrienne
2 years ago

Aw, I bet you’re on your last crust wondering how you’re going to keep warm this winter. Nobody’s got any time for grabbing Landlords who sponge of the state like no others.

hdavies15
hdavies15
2 years ago
Reply to  Barry Pandy

Councils haven’t built much social housing for decades. Most of their estates passed to housing associations or were sold privately. We have umpteen housing associations here in Wales but many of them appear to prefer providing for people who are fetched in from out of area given preference over locals who have often waited years for decent housing. The present condition of the private housing market has made matters worse. For a brief period in the 60’s to 80’s there was a fairly smooth progression for people. They could start in private rented or council rented then buy their first… Read more »

One of the two witnesses
One of the two witnesses
2 years ago

Why must it do more to support landlords? Rents are already extortionate as the retired use them as income sources and organisations gouge tenants to maximise profits.
As they have done all along, let them help themselves. If anything there should be legally enforceable rent caps to prevent these greedy buggars from profiteering

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
2 years ago

Rental properties for people to live in yes that’s important but why do I get the feeling this is a case of ‘let me put it another day way’ to allow all those buy, lock up and leave types to run amok?

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
2 years ago
Reply to  Fi yn unig

Minus ‘day’.

Nobby Tart
Nobby Tart
2 years ago

What’s the best for retirement, property or pension?
I see this question posed all the time in financial articles in the papers.

Guess what the choice is 99% of the time?

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
2 years ago
Reply to  Nobby Tart

Not too surprising is it? The Tories set up the system to have interest rates close to zero. If you have managed to make savings for your retirement then where should those savings go? Into a Building Society at 0.25% interest or take on the hassle of becoming a landlord to get a better return. Last year I reached the dizzy heights of 2.7% return on investment. Next year will be negative as the lovely tenants need the kitchen replacing as the existing one is falling apart.

George
George
2 years ago

We want RSW to work for good landlords an tenants, but I start – perhaps unfairly – from place of skepticism that all the landlords surveyed are “good landlords”.

Marc
Marc
2 years ago

No conflict of interest there then! You couldn’t make this stuff up

Charles Coombes
Charles Coombes
2 years ago

All 4 feet in the trough

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