WIREDGOV

The Welsh Government has laid regulations on the maximum permitted level of default fees landlords in Wales will be able to charge when a tenant requires keys to be replaced, locks to be changed, or is late paying the rent.

Draft Regulations around ‘default’ fees were laid by the Welsh Government on Tuesday and are due to come into force on 28th April 2020 (unless revoked).

What can be charged for replacing keys or changing the locks

From 28th April, landlords in Wales will only be able to charge tenants for the actual costs of replacing keys and changing, adding or removing a lock.

The regulations state:

“Where the landlord currently charges an amount for replacing keys and locks which is above the actual cost, these regulations will result in a transfer from the landlord to the tenant which is equal to the difference between the amount currently charged and the actual cost”.

What can be charged for late payment of rent

The regulations state that landlords will be able to charge for late payment of rent this but only after seven days-meaning nothing can be charge in respect of late rent before this. Landlords will be able to charge the Bank of England base rate, plus 3% on an APR basis (calculation formula in EM)

This differs to the situation in England, where under the Tenant Fees Act landlords can’t charge for late payment of rent until after a longer period of 14 days.

As with replacing the locks or keys, where a landlord charges an amount for the late payment of rent which is above the amount which will be permitted under the regulations, there will be a transfer from the landlords to the tenant which is equal to the amount currently charged less the permitted amount.

Click here for the full press release