The National Assembly for Wales's Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee has made a number of recommendations it feels are needed to strengthen the Renting Homes (Wales) Bill.
Around a third of the population of Wales live in rented accommodation and the changes proposed by the Bill will affect almost all of those people and their landlords.
One of the main objectives of the Bill is to bring together and modernise the existing law. While this has been welcomed by the Committee, it believes that the Minister could have used the Bill to make more significant improvements for those involved in renting homes in Wales.
The Committee feels that the part of the Bill relating to the condition of rental properties needs further consideration. The Committee supports the Minister's aim of improving the condition of these properties for those living in them, but does not believe that the 'fitness for human habitation' test in the Bill is sufficient to raise the standard of accommodation in the rental sector in a meaningful way. It has called on the Minister to reconsider the criteria to be used for this test.
The Committee also believes that the Bill places too much reliance on the courts to resolve disputes, and that going to court should not be the only option for tenants or landlords wishing to enforce their rights. It has recommended that the Minister makes alternative provision for resolving such disputes that would be more accessible and expedient, and less costly than court proceedings.
Christine Chapman AM, Chair of the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee said:
"We support the Minister's aims in bringing forward the Bill, and we have recommended that it proceeds to the next stage of Assembly consideration. But we have set out a number of concerns in our report that we would like the Minister to consider further.
"One of the proposals in the Bill is to enable 16 or 17 year olds to hold tenancies in their own right. Currently, only those aged 18 and over can do so. We applaud the Minister's intention to help young people secure their own accommodation, but we believe that these proposals may be unworkable in practice and have unintended effects. For example, we are concerned that 16 or 17 year olds will have difficulty entering into contracts for gas and electric, as well as contents insurance for their possessions.
"We think the Minister should enable only community landlords to offer tenancies to 16 and 17 year olds. We believe this would ensure that potentially vulnerable young people are adequately protected and receive the right level of support."
The Committee has published its Stage 1 report and summary of conclusions and recommendations on the Renting Homes (Wales) Bill (26 June 2015). (PDF, 1.39MB)