Propertymark will continue to work with the Welsh Government as First Minister Rt Hon Vaughan Gething, MS, forms his property-oriented legislative plan.
His four main priorities for the remainder of his Senedd term include building safety, homelessness, visitor accommodation, and planning.
Regarding building safety, a Building Safety Bill that intends to go much further than the English Building Safety Act 2022 has been anticipated for a while, according to Julie James, MS, Minister for Climate Change.
Some of its measures include fundamentally reforming the current regime in Wales and every multi-occupied residential building that contains two or more residential units irrespective of height.
Local councils have new powers to regulate the occupation phase of the new regime.
The Welsh Government also introduced an Ending Homelessness white paper, which was designed to help people stay in their homes, and Propertymark replied to the consultation on this paper in January 2024.
The professional body supported the decision not to place a legal duty on private landlords to refer tenants at risk of homelessness to housing teams, and strongly urged local councils to contemplate agents and landlords as part of the answer and consistently forge productive relationships with them.
A Bill will be brought forward towards the end of this Senedd term to modernise planning in Wales, which Gething stated was overly complex.
Although no details about these plans have been revealed yet, a report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in February 2024 recommended many possibilities, including more efficient monitoring and enforcement of local plans, a requirement for greater diversity of housing tenure on bigger developments, and streamlining the approval process so projects can start faster.
Finally, a Visitor Accommodation (Regulation) Bill will implement statutory registration and licencing for all visitor accommodation in Wales, meaning that anybody who lets our visitor accommodation must meet an appropriate set of standards to help ensure the welfare of visitors and improve the visitor experience.
There will eventually be separate legislation to provide local councils with new powers to implement a visitor levy, a small extra charge on overnight visitors, and to help sustainable tourism.
Tim Thomas, policy and campaigns officer at Propertymark, said: “Propertymark welcomes the First Minister’s commitment to building a fairer, stronger, greener Wales, and the important role of housing in achieving this.
“We have worked in partnership with the Welsh Government on building safety, and we are pleased to see this work will pave the way for a Building Safety Bill which will cater to the specific building types within Wales and add greater protections against fire safety risks, beyond the remediation of cladding.
“We are equally pleased with the continued commitment to tackling homelessness in Wales. As a consultee of the White Paper on Homelessness, Propertymark is committed to continuing engagement with the Welsh Government to explore the best ways to support people to remain in their homes and prevent the experience of homelessness.”
