Please use the form below. Alternatively, you may be able to find the answer to your query here, or on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Landlords who live outside of England, Scotland and Wales or 200 miles or more from their rental property are required to appoint a local* agent unless they have a locally based* staff member, formally employed on a contract of service.
Appointing an agent does not preclude the landlord from also holding a licence if they wish to also carry out letting and management activities.
Your licensed agent can be a high street letting and management agency, or an individual such as a family member or friend as long as they obtain a licence from Rent Smart Wales. However they are required to be local* to the property i.e. reside in England, Scotland or Wales and within 200 miles of the rental property.
If your licensed agent is a family member (As defined by the Housing Act 2004 -Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Aunt, Uncle, Grandfather, Grandmother, step-relatives and relatives-by-law) they will pay the landlord licence application fee.
Please note that appointing an unlicensed agent is an offence. Click here to access the Public Register to check if an agent is licensed with Rent Smart Wales.
Rent Smart Wales can issue your landlord licence before you appoint a local* agent or employee, but your licence will have a condition on it specifying that you must appoint a licensed local* agent or employ a locally* based member of staff to assist in the management of the rental properties within 8 weeks of the licence being granted.
*locally based / local means somebody who lives in England, Scotland or Wales and is within 200 miles (i.e. less than) of the rental property.
**the mileage is calculated through the use of Google maps using the shortest distance calculator. The mode of transport considered is by car and the time the route will take between the licensee’s home or business address and the rental property at the furthest distance must be reasonable and viable.
In the first instance you should contact your landlord/agent, in writing, bringing to their attention the problem. If you feel they do not respond appropriately, you can speak with the Environmental Health section of your local authority. They can inspect your property and demand the landlord/agent rectifies any issues that are significant enough to affect your health, safety or welfare. If your landlord / agent does not respond appropriately or resolve the conditions at hand, you should contact Rent Smart Wales and report this as the landlord / agent may be in breach of their licence conditions.
If you wish to report to Rent Smart Wales that an account holder with Rent Smart Wales is now deceased, you can do so in writing via the online form below or by letter to:
Rent Smart Wales PO Box 1106 Cardiff CF11 1UA
You will need to supply the following information (of the deceased):
Please note that Rent Smart Wales will not make any changes until this information is received in writing, even if you have notified us over the phone.
You will not be able to register a property that is already registered to another landlord.
If you are trying to register a property that is registered to someone else you will need to provide us with documentary evidence that you are the landlord of the property so that we are able to release the property for you to add to your landlord registration.
Examples of the types of evidence that you can send us to prove that you are the landlord of a property are listed below:
You can send this evidence via our Contact Us Form or via post to Rent Smart Wales, PO Box 1106, Cardiff, CF11 1UA
Once we have received the evidence and determined that it is acceptable, we will contact you to advise that the property is available to register.
If you require any further assistance please contact us on 03000133344
Please refer to our Customer Guide for logging in issues.
If you hold Power of Attorney for a landlord (the donor) then as the attorney will need to create a Rent Smart Wales user account in your name providing all required information. You will then need to create a landlord registration on behalf of the donor. All of the information provided such as name, date of birth and correspondence information (address, telephone and email) should be yours to ensure that we only correspond with you as the attorney.
When selecting the type of registration, this will depend on the Power of Attorney arrangement in place. If you are the only person who holds Power of Attorney then you will need to select the type as “Individual”. If there are multiple attorneys then you will need to select the type as “Joint”. Please note: If you select the type of registration as “Joint”, you will be asked to provide the Name, Date of Birth and Email Address of the additional attorneys. You will need to enter this information regardless of whether they have any involvement with the rental property(ies).
When the registration asks you to provide a reference name, you will need to enter “Power of Attorney for ( Donor name )>”. This then shows Rent Smart Wales the arrangement in place and enables you as the attorney to make any amendments to the registration and authorise any changes that need to be made. This means that Rent Smart Wales will contact you as the attorney should we need to discuss anything regarding the registration rather than contacting the donor.
If you as the Attorney conduct the letting & / or management activities at the rental property(ies) on behalf of the donor, then you will be required to apply for an Agent Licence as a Power of Attorney allows you to make certain decisions on behalf of the donor, but doesn’t mean that you own the property(ies) therefore, you are the agent. If you do not conduct the letting and/or management activities at the donor’s rental property(ies) and an agent has been appointed, then you should link them to the property(ies) when completing the landlord registration.
Please Note: We will not require evidence that you hold Power of Attorney at the time of application however, Rent Smart Wales may request this in the future.
If you can’t find your answer above, please use the form below to send your enquiry.
Please log in to your account before filling in the below form, so that we can quickly proceed with your enquiry.
If you are unable to log in, please ensure you provide 3 pieces of information from your account e.g. Full name, address, date of birth, contact details, etc. This is so we can complete Data Protection checks and review your account in full.
Rent Smart Wales call centre is closed during the COVID-19 management period. We encourage you to visit our FAQs for answers to standard questions. If unable to resolve your query, please use our contact us form.
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