Rent Assessment Committee Wales: What Happens When a Tenant Challenges
Who Can Make a Referral
Only contract-holders on converted periodic standard contracts — tenancies that existed before 1 December 2022 and converted automatically under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 — have the statutory right to challenge a Section 123 rent increase before the Rent Assessment Committee (RAC).
Contract-holders on newly granted periodic contracts (created from 1 December 2022 onward) have no equivalent right. On those contracts, the proposed rent takes effect automatically once the procedural requirements are met.
The Referral Process
After receiving Form RHW12, a contract-holder has two months to submit Form RAC4 to the Residential Property Tribunal Wales. There is no application fee.
Two important points for landlords:
- The two-month deadline is strict. An informal complaint to the landlord, a phone call to Rent Smart Wales or a generic email objection does not stop the clock or substitute for a Form RAC4 filing.
- Submitting the referral does not suspend the rent increase. The effective date in Form RHW12 stands. Once the committee makes its determination, the decided rent applies retrospectively from that date.
What the Committee Decides
The Rent Assessment Committee conducts an independent market-rent valuation under the Renting Homes (Rent Determination) (Converted Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/781). The statutory assumptions are:
- Open-market benchmark — The rent is what the dwelling might reasonably command on the open market under a willing-landlord periodic standard contract.
- Tenant improvements disregarded — If the contract-holder made improvements (not under an obligation to the landlord), the committee values the property as if those improvements had not been made.
- Tenant disrepair disregarded — Any reduction in value caused by the contract-holder's failure to maintain the property is also ignored.
The committee can set the rent lower than, equal to, or higher than your proposed figure. It is not limited to choosing between the existing rent and what you asked for.
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Possible Outcomes and Financial Consequences
| Committee determination | Effect on the landlord |
|---|---|
| Rent set equal to your proposal | The figure you specified takes effect as planned |
| Rent set lower than your proposal | The lower figure applies from the effective date; you credit any overpayment |
| Rent set higher than the existing rent but lower than your proposal | The committee's figure applies from the effective date |
| Rent set higher than your proposal | The higher figure applies; the contract-holder owes arrears from the effective date |
Unlike the English system under Section 14(7) of the Housing Act 1988, the Welsh legislation gives the committee no discretion to defer the effective date on hardship grounds.
How Landlords Should Prepare
If you serve Form RHW12 on a converted contract, assume a referral is possible and prepare accordingly:
- Gather comparable lettings data — Recent asking rents and achieved rents for similar properties in the same area. The committee weighs market evidence heavily.
- Document the property condition — Photographs, maintenance records and any improvement works you have carried out.
- Monitor for Form RAC4 — Track the two-month window from the contract-holder's receipt of Form RHW12. If the deadline passes without a filing, the referral right lapses and the proposed rent takes effect.
The Wales Rent Increase Guide includes a RAC preparation worksheet covering the evidence checklist, the referral timeline and the financial scenarios.
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