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Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

Chapter 1 - Overview and Introductory Provisions
Section 147 – Overview of Part

352.An overview of this Part is provided by a table setting out the occupation contracts to which each chapter applies, and the content of each chapter.

Section 148 – Permissible termination etc.

353.An occupation contract may only be ended in accordance with the fundamental terms relating to termination that apply to that type of contract, or in accordance with provisions in other legislation (including in other Parts of the Act). This does not affect the possibility of a contract being rescinded by the landlord or the contract-holder (for example, due to fraudulent misrepresentation by the landlord), nor the operation of the law of frustration (for example, the setting aside of a contract due to a circumstance rendering it impossible to comply with its contractual obligations). Section 20 provides that this section must be incorporated without modification as a term of all occupation contracts.

Section 149 – Possession claims and Section 150 – Possession notices

354.Section 149 provides that a possession claim (i.e. a claim made to the court by the landlord to obtain possession of their property) may only be made in the circumstances set out in Chapters 3 to 5 and 7. Section 20 provides that section 149 must be incorporated without modification as a term of all occupation contracts.

355.A landlord wishing to make a possession claim must first issue the contract-holder with a ‘possession notice’, but this requirement does not apply where-

a.

a landlord gives notice under the contract term incorporating section 173 (the landlord’s right to end a periodic standard contract simply by giving notice),

b.

a landlord gives notice under a ‘landlord’s break clause’ in a fixed term standard contract (see section 194), or

c.

a landlord gives notice under the contract term incorporating section 186 (notice given in connection with the end of the fixed term of a fixed term standard contract).

356.This is because the termination of the tenancy arises in the above circumstances purely because the landlord has given a notice, and not for any other reason.

357.A possession notice will notify the contract-holder that the landlord is seeking to regain possession of the dwelling. Section 150 details what a possession notice must set out; that is, the details of the ground under which the notice has been given (the reason the landlord is seeking possession), the landlord’s intention to make a possession claim to the court, and the date after which the landlord can make this claim.

Section 151 – Introductory standard contracts and prohibited conduct standard contracts: notices under section 173 and 181

358.In relation to an introductory standard contract or a prohibited conduct standard contract, a notice given by a landlord under the term of the contract incorporating section 173 (landlord’s notice), or a possession notice given by a landlord before making a claim under the term of the contract incorporating section 181 (serious rent arrears), must also set out the contract-holder’s right to require the landlord to carry out a review (under section 202) of the decision to seek possession. Subsection (3) provides for the section to be incorporated as a fundamental term of all introductory standard contracts and prohibited conduct standard contracts.

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Explanatory Notes

Text created by the Welsh Government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes accompany all Acts of the Welsh Parliament.

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