Rent Smart Wales

In Wales, landlords and agents who undertake letting and management work at rental properties are legally required to have a Rent Smart Wales licence, ensuring that they are suitable and appropriately trained in their rights and obligations.

There are two licence types; Landlord and Agent. If you are both a landlord and an agent, then it is sufficient to apply for an agent licence only.

Landlord licence

After completing a registration, a landlord conducting letting and managing activities at properties they own needs to apply for a landlord licence and complete the necessary landlord training.

Landlords who are not involved in issuing contracts and managing their rental properties do not need a licence; however they must appoint a licensed agent.

Agent licence

Those completing letting and/or management responsibilities on behalf of a landlord, are agents under the Act and need to apply for an agent licence and complete approved agent training.

An agent could be an individual or organisation, a spouse, a family member or friend of the landlord or a commercial agent.

A licence is valid for 5 years from date of issue.

Upon expiry, a renewal application will be required if the licensee is still involved in letting and management activities.

The renewal application can be submitted 84 days before expiry of the current licence, with the anniversary of expiry still being protected.

Read more about the renewal process here. To check the validity of an existing licence, view our public register here.

Every licence is issued with a set of conditions that a landlord or agent must follow. Failure to abide by these conditions puts a licence at risk of revocation.

These conditions set out the things that must be done to maintain a licence over its 5-year duration. Sometimes, bespoke conditions and deadlines are applied to deal with specific concerns.

Compliance with the Code of Practice is a condition attached to every licence. This document lists all the legal requirements that licensees must comply with while renting out property in Wales.

Agents usually have additional conditions to demonstrate that they have the following safeguards in place:

• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Client Money protection
• Membership of a redress scheme

To learn more about whether you require safeguards and what they entail, click here.