The Resident handbook provides information about renting with Coastal.
You can also get answers to some queries you may have on our Living in Your Home and Managing Your Home pages.
To help you understand some of the key changes we have answered some questions you may have below.
RHWA Frequently Asked Questions
This came into effect on 1 December 2022. It is the biggest change to housing law in Wales for decades. It gives more protections for tenants and licensees and makes clearer their rights and responsibilities.
You can find out more at https://gov.wales/housing-law-changing-renting-homes
If you have rented with us before the 1st December 2022 there are a few changes for example you will now receive two months notice of any rent changes instead of one month. Your Tenancy Agreement is also now known as an Occupation Contract, Coastal will be known as a Community Landlord and you will officially be Contract Holders. Some more changes are explained in the below questions.
This now what a Tenancy Agreement is called, the name was changed as part of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act.
If you were a resident with us before December 1, 2022 you would have received a copy for your records before 31 May 2023. If you are a new resident this is what you will sign as the agreement to rent your property from us.
Your new Occupation Contract is a lengthy document but has been prepared inline with the requirements of the act.
if you would like to know more about the changes go to https://www.gov.wales/renting-homes-tenants
The Act allows a contract-holder to be added or removed from a joint contract, without the need to end the contract for all. If you would like to make a change to your contract, please contact your Housing Officer.
Succession simply means that when you die it maybe possible to pass on your home to another family member or carer that live there with you currently.
We appreciate losing a loved is a very distressing time but it is important that we are contacted as soon as possible after someone dies.
Each households’ circumstances are unique, please speak to your Housing Officer to find out more.
The notice period given by a resident or ‘contract holder’ should not be less than four weeks or 1 month, depending which agreement you have. To give notice you must email ask@coastalha.co.uk or write to us at 3rd floor, 220 High Street, Swansea, SA1 1NW
You need to get permission for such as:-
Running a business from home
Getting a pet
Altering the property
You need to contact us by email or by writing to us. We then have 14 days if we need to ask you for more information. We then have one month to make a decision from when you first ask or from when we ask for more information.
We will let you know if you can go head and if there are any conditions that would apply.
At Coastal we aim to offer high quality homes for less than you would expect to pay a private landlord for a similar property. The Fitness Regulations is to help ensure all landlords, including private landlords, maintain homes to prevent them from becoming unfit for human habitation.
If you believe that your property is unfit please talk to us.
We must ensure that there is a hard wired smoke alarm on each floor of your home and there must also be a working carbon monoxide alarm in each room of the home which contains a gas appliance, an oil fired combustion appliance or a solid fuel burning combustion appliance. Find out more at https://www.coastalha.co.uk/fire-safety/
As set out in the Fitness for Human Habitation Guidance, landlords are required to ensure that a valid Gas Safety Certificate, Electrical Inspection Condition Report, and Energy Performance Certificate are provided to the contract-holder.
For residents renting with us before 1 December 2022, we have 12 months from that date to undertake the EICR to avoid the property becoming unfit for human habitation.
Every year Coastal carries out a gas safety check on your home and an electric check every 5 years, so it’s important you give us access to do this.
Jargon buster
The act brought in some new terminology, some of which is explained in more detail below:
Contract-holders replaces the term residents. If you live in rented accommodation, in the occupation contract you will be referred to as a contract-holder.
Community landlord will be the new term for organisations like Coastal, councils or other housing associations that rent homes. Coastal will be a community landlord.
Any other landlord who is not a community landlord will be referred to as a private landlord.
Occupation Contracts replace the term Tenancy Agreements. This helps make it clearer that landlord and resident are in contract with each other.
Secure contract – used by community landlords. In general, community landlords will issue secure contracts. These offer greater security to the contract holder compared to a standard contract.
Standard contract – used by private landlords and, in some exceptional circumstances, community landlords.
Supported standard contract – used when you live in supported accommodation for over six months.
Key matters – the essential information, such as address and names of the people living at the property.
Fundamental terms – the most important parts of the contract, such as the obligation to repair your home and how we can get possession of a property.
Supplementary terms – the more practical, day-to-day matters, such as notifying us if the property will be left unoccupied for
Additional terms – any other specifically agreed terms, such as keeping pets.
Fit for Human Habitation (FfHH) – a property is in good condition where residents can live safely.
Abandonment– landlords can repossess an abandoned property without needing a court order.
If you would like more detailed information about the Renting Homes Act 2016 please visit the Welsh Government website.
