According to a trade association the new Renting Homes (Fees etc) (Wales) Act due to start from September 1st, is almost certainly going to leave many agents and landlords utterly confused.

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The Act was granted royal assent in May however the Welsh Government's implementation is far from straight forward.

The fees ban will start this Sunday (Sept 1st) and although it fully explains payments that agents and landlords can charge for, the Act leaves out any information concerning caps.

The Welsh government has 'helpfully' announced that details of the caps will become available under secondary legislation that may be completed this year.

As from September 1, landlords and letting agents operating in Wales will only be able to charge for the following:

Rent

Security deposit

Holding deposit

Payments in default

Payments in respect of utilities

Payments in respect of council tax

Payments in respect of communication service

Payments in respect of a television licence

The government states that agents and landlords will be able to use their current set of fees until the secondary part of the Act comes into force.

This 'mish mash' will almost certainly leave tenants, agents and landlords in utter bewilderment, as many will have followed the information on caps that is included in England's Tenants Fees Act.

The association has been urging the Welsh Government to properly explain their intentions and are scathing on their 'piecework' implementation.

A spokesperson for the trade association, said: “To introduce half the Act now and the other half at some later date is a shoddy piece of work.

“All of those affected by the Act will have followed the implementation of the Tenant Fees Act in England, which introduced a fee structure and caps at the same time as reducing the number of permitted fees.

“The Welsh government needs to ensure they communicate the differences between this Act and the Tenant Fees Act in England clearly, and work on the secondary legislation as quickly as possible to clear up this uncertainty.

“Landlords and letting agents are running businesses. They need to be able to plan for the future, just as tenants do.”