This week’s news highlighted the gaping loopholes in English law that allow criminal ‘rogue’ landlords to continue to operate even after being banned.
Most of the coverage lumped England and Wales together – leading to much tweeting and use of the #thatsdevolved hashtag – and ignored the progress that we’ve made towards professionalising the Welsh private rented sector.
While England has a criminal landlord database devoid of any landlords’ names after six months in operation, Wales has the Rent Smart Wales licensing scheme. Rent Smart Wales means that every landlord and letting agent must register, pass a fit and proper person test, and undertake basic training.