7. 4. Statement: Rent Smart Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:19 pm on 22 November 2016.

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Photo of Carl Sargeant Carl Sargeant Labour 4:19, 22 November 2016

I thank the Member for her continued support. Again, the Member dealt with the detail in terms of the housing Bill when it went through the Assembly, talking to a range of stakeholders for and against the proposed legislation, and the shape of the legislation was an important landmark process for this institution. I’m glad we have made significant progress on that.

In terms of the numbers, again, as of last night, it was 55,000. We expect to see over the next two days—yesterday and today—a significant increase on that, with the last-minute approach by individuals to make the register. I will update Members perhaps with a letter in the next week or so with regard to the numbers that have finally come on deadline day, so that you and I are fully aware of that. I think what we have to be mindful of is that this is the law, but I also recognise that it’s about proportionality in terms of enforcement. I would expect the enforcement teams to look at this proportionately as and when they consider the enforcement process.

I visited a scheme, actually outside of Wales, where there was a scheme of similar enforcement and the irony was it was actually peer pressure from within the sector. People who were registered were saying about No. 12 who was a landlord and not registered. It was regulated within the market, which was really helpful because they also don’t want rogue landlords bringing a bad name to the system. It’s only right to do that too.

Unlike some of the ill-informed critics of this legislation or the implementation of this—there are one or two, as you may have heard this afternoon—I have visited the operation centre in Cardiff. I’ve met and spoke to the teams at the front end of this very difficult process of getting people registered. I pay tribute to the people that are there at the front end, talking with people and taking people through the application process. It’s not a straightforward one but it’s a necessity. It’s the law. I wish that Members would recognise that. Cardiff city council have done a great job in terms of what they’ve done for the whole of Wales in taking this operation forward. I wish them well in the future.

In terms of the incentive, it’s an interesting prospect. I’ll give that some further thought, because I think that incentivising people to do this and getting in early actually helps us as well. If we hadn’t had the rush at the end, we wouldn’t have had the delays in the applications. So, I will give that some more thought. Thanks to the Member for her contribution.