Registration and licensing are separate requirements
Being registered does not automatically mean that a landlord is licensed. Equally, appointing a licensed agent does not remove the landlord’s responsibility to keep their registration details accurate and up to date.
These distinctions may explain why registration and licensing failures remain so common. Landlords may believe that completing one part of the process covers all their obligations or may not realise that action is needed when their circumstances change.
Check landlord records at the start of the relationship
Before marketing or managing a property, confirm that the landlord and property are correctly registered and establish who will carry out the letting and management work. The person or business undertaking that work must hold the appropriate licence.
Keep evidence of the checks made, including relevant reference numbers, expiry dates and copies of confirmation documents. These records should be reviewed periodically rather than retained without further checks for the whole client relationship.
Where information is missing or inconsistent, agents should ask the landlord to resolve the issue before carrying out regulated work.
Keep information accurate
Although failures to update or provide information account for only a small proportion of notices, they are easy to prevent.
Details held by Rent Smart Wales should be reviewed whenever there is a change to a landlord’s portfolio, contact information, business structure, or management arrangements.
Agents should also make sure that responses to requests for information are complete and accurate. Firms managing large portfolios may benefit from regularly comparing their property management system with Rent Smart Wales records. This can identify properties that have been sold, newly acquired, or transferred between agents but have not yet been updated on the register.
Renewal delays can create compliance risks
The average approval time is four weeks for a landlord licence and over six weeks for an agent licence. Applications should therefore be submitted early enough to allow for processing and any requests for further information.
03 Apr 2017
