Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 16 November 2016.
I think the Member is right to raise the issue—not particularly about Rent Smart Wales and process, but actually the reason why we introduced this in the first place, and the Member is right in raising the issue about rogue landlords. What we do know is that there are many good landlords in the system, but there are far too many rogue landlords. It is disappointing, but not unexpected. The deadline date is upon us in terms of Rent Smart Wales, and there is a rush to register. I understand that, but there’s been a long lead-in time for people to register in that process. I said earlier on we won’t be seeking anybody who is proactively looking to have registered or has, through no fault of their own, been unable to register and can evidence that, but what we are keen to do is make sure that, once we’ve got the registration profile in place, then we look at the people who haven’t engaged in the process to make sure that we are able to start enforcing the legislation. I’m confident that the local authorities are in a position to be able to do that, but it’s early days in the system.