Commentary on Sections Part 1 Regulation of Private Rented Housing Section 16 – Duty to update information
33.A registered landlord must notify the licensing authority in writing of certain changes in order to ensure that the information set out in a register is kept up to date. These are set out in subsection (1). They are: any change in name in which the landlord is registered; the appointment of a person to carry out lettings or property management work on the landlord’s behalf in respect of the property in question; the cessation of the such an appointment; and any assignment of the landlord’s interest in a rental property. The Welsh Ministers can also, by regulations, specify other changes in respect of which the duty to notify will apply. A landlord who fails to comply with the duty to notify imposed by this section, and who does not have a reasonable excuse for failing to comply, is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
34.There is a time limit of 28 days within which the change(s) must be notified to the licensing authority. The period begins on the first day which the landlord knew, or should have known, of the change.