Fact Sheet: Discrimination in the rental market (Wales)

As the dust settles following the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act, lettings agencies are finding alternative ways to mitigate uncertainty and financial risk for landlords. A range of services are growing in popularity that replace traditional, abolished methods like rent in advance, not least professional rent guarantor provision. This service offers reassurance for good tenants who can afford the rent but don’t quite meet the right criteria on paper, including students, self-employed people or those on benefits, or retirees.

The Online Procedure Rule Committee has published a draft practice direction for a new digital service for County Court possession proceedings in England and Wales. Letting agents are unlikely to use the service in its first phase unless they work with an eligible social landlord. However, the pilot signals the direction of travel for possession proceedings.

The first phase of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has been in force since 1 May 2026, but local regulation is continuing to develop alongside it. Councils across England are consulting on new selective licensing schemes and planning controls for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), creating further checks, costs, and responsibilities for agents and landlords.

Rent pressures are real, but controlling the price of a scarce product does not create more of it. Rent controls can protect some tenants in the short term, but they do not address the shortage of homes that drives high rents. They can also weaken investment, reduce the number of properties available and make it harder for people seeking a new tenancy to find a suitable home. Evidence from schemes implemented around the world backs Propertymark’s opposition to rent controls and work to challenge and reshape the policy in Scotland.