In the Senedd this week (16th July), James Evans MS for Brecon & Radnorshire questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, asking what analysis has the Welsh Government made of the effectiveness of Rent Smart Wales.
Rent Smart Wales was set up by Welsh Labour Government and is the designated licensing authority for the private rented sector. It assists those who let or manage rental properties in Wales to comply with their Housing (Wales) Act 2014 obligations. All landlords must register their properties, obtain a licence and undertake training. Many have criticised the cost of doing this, with new registration standard fees at £102, Landlord licences standard fee at £327 and landlord licence courses in person at £100, with renewals/retraining required every few years. The IT system used has come under criticism for being difficult to navigate and not user-friendly.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant MS, responded to James Evans MS question but stating she has commissioned an independent evaluation of Rent Smart Wales, published in May this year. The evaluation set out a number of recommendations for Rent Smart Wales and they are currently considering these and will shortly provide an action plan on their next steps.
James Evans MS responded by saying:
“Constituents and landlords tell me that Rent Smart Wales offers them little in the way of support despite receiving millions of pounds in fees without delivering anything in return. The National Residential Landlords Association produced a report into Rent Smart Wales, questioning its transparency and accountability. So, I'd just like to know, Cabinet Secretary, what was the surplus profit last year for Rent Smart Wales, and what is that money being spent on, because it seems to many that Rent Smart Wales is just a self-serving organisation that is not supporting the people who pay the money to keep it running?”
The Minister’s reply back did not answer the question but instead referred to the ongoing work coming out of the evaluation report.
After the debate, James Evans MS said
“The lack of transparency over just how much surplus profit Rent Smart Wales makes off the private landlords/agents is deeply troubling. This could be millions of pounds! This is yet another cash raising scheme from Welsh Labour Government and private landlords get little support in return for paying RSW hundreds of pounds each year. We need to know how much profit Rent Smart Wales are making and where the surplus money is going? I will keep raising this with the Minister until we get full transparency and accountability on Rent Smart Wales”.
