The TecLet letting platform has announced updates have been put in place to take into account changes to Welsh rental legislation.

From 1 December 2022, amendments to the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will come into effect. These changes are designed to improve how Welsh property is rented, managed and lived in.

Software platform business TecLet – which is currently in the process of rebranding as part of OnTheMarket Software within the OnTheMarket Group – has updated its platform to ensure required changes in documentation are in place and ready for letting agents operating in Wales, the company said.

Under the new legislation, tenants and licensees will become ‘contract holders’, and tenancy agreements will be replaced with ‘occupation contracts’.

Contract holders will legally need to receive a written contract setting out their rights and responsibilities. There will also be an increase in the ‘no fault’ notice period from two to six months and improved succession rights.

The legislation is also designed to provide more flexible arrangements for joint contract holders and make it easier to add or remove others to an occupation contract. For landlords there will be two types of contracts: ‘Secure’ for the social rented sector and ‘Standard’ for the private rented sector.

Alan Blockley, CEO at TecLet said: “The changes brought about by this new legislation are extensive and I am delighted to confirm that agents using our platform are able to seamlessly operate under the new requirements in a compliant and efficient manner.

“The development of suites of new documents also coincides with a new editing tool within our platform that enables all agents to amend tenancy, terms of business and email documentation. Compliance is strictly maintained via the user permissions set and agreed within the platform.”

TecLet also pointed out that added functionality within its lettings platform integrates the new agreements, and emails will reference all tenants as contract holders. Notices can be served from within the platform and written statements and new agreement types are available for current tenancies.

The platform already manages gas and electrical safety certificates and smoke and carbon monoxide legislation requirements.