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United Kingdom

Renting Homes (Wales): ECR non-provision suspends rent; landlords cannot recover arrears; no restitution of rent paid where premises safe (Beacon Cymru v Mitchell; Bron Afon v Wadley)

Published on: 13 October 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Property Disputes expert
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Article summary

Beacon Cymru Group Ltd (formerly Coastal Housing Group Ltd) and another company v Mitchell and another; Bron Afon Community Housing Ltd v Wadley (The Welsh Ministers, intervening) [2025] EWHC 2477 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

The ruling covers both converted and new contracts and applies to every type of landlord in Wales. Advisers must take both decisions into account when representing a client concerned about a failure to provide an electrical condition report (ECR) to either a new or converted contract-holder. Particular care will be required in rent arrears matters or housing conditions claims. The decision does not lessen the importance of complying with the sometimes complex statutory and regulatory requirements of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (RH(W)A 2016) and its suite of supporting regulations. Nevertheless, read together the judgments suggest, in very broad terms:

These outcomes affect new and converted contracts across landlord categories, meaning practitioners must tread cautiously when rent or condition issues arise.

  • in Wales, if a landlord does not supply a due copy of an ECR, the contract-holder may suspend rent payments until the copy is given. The landlord is not entitled to recoup the arrears even once the ECR is...

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