Storm Bert has caused extensive damage to homes and communities across Wales, with another storm expected in coming weeks. TPAS Cymru was recently contacted by a tenant who expressed his concern about his landlord's failure to disclose that his home when he moved in this year had previously flooded in recent years.

TPAS Cymru was invited on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday, 6th December, to share the national tenant voice on this important question. Watch the video above of the full interview, and read our full statement below.

Our response in this interview is based on tenants' views across Wales in our Tenant Pulse Advisory Group. Tenants shared their views with us:

“Yes, I strongly believe that social landlords should disclose whether a property has been affected by flooding. Transparency is vital to ensure tenants can make informed decisions about their housing. This is particularly important for vulnerable tenants who may not be able to deal with the stress, financial costs, or potential health risks (e.g., mold, structural damage) of moving into a flood-prone property.”

“When buying a property, you are given this type of information. And it can affect your insurance premiums etc. I know that given the current housing crisis, tenants aren’t really able to pick and choose their home - it’s down to allocations - I feel this information should be disclosed to enable tenants to take out adequate insurance and so they can take steps to ‘flood-proof’ their home.”

“As someone living in the Rhondda, I have witnessed the devastation caused by the flooding in 2020 and again in 2024. These events have left lasting scars on our communities. Tenants deserve full transparency to make informed decisions about their housing, particularly when safety, finances, and long-term stability are at stake.”

What is TPAS Cymru calling for?

TPAS Cymru is calling for a voluntary change in a code of conduct for landlords to disclose any prior flooding over the last 10 years to new tenants.

Are you a tenant in Wales?  Why not ask your landlord about their policy surrounding this important issue?

Are you working for a landlord in Wales? Contact us to speak further on how this change could look for you. We are happy to share the data we have received on this and how it could increase tenant satisfaction and trust.

Our full statement from BBC Radio Wales below

Climate change affects everyone in Wales – a lot of our communities are built around seas and rivers and therefore we are going to see more frequent extreme flooding.  As we build more homes in the areas that we can, we are going to have more tenants that are affected so this is the time to act.

Landlords do some amazing work to support tenants and communities, but we all know that sometimes flood prevention can fail.

1 in 3 of people in Wales are currently renting their home, and they don’t have the benefit of being disclosed if their home could flood like homeowners do.

All we want to see is for tenants to have an informed choice alike a homeowner in Wales. If a property has been affected by flooding in the last 10 years, tenants should be informed so they are made aware and can make their own decisions and plans.  

We have a panel of tenants called our Tenant Advisory Group, who have all backed calls for this policy change in Wales.

How would this work in practice?

There are two ways to do this, a voluntary code of conduct or a change of law.  Social Housing has a great collaborative culture, and what we would like  to see is a voluntary change in conduct like what Trivallis is doing, and we hope other Housing Associations or landlords will follow.

For private landlords in Wales, we have some brilliant ones and some not so great.  As much as a voluntary code would be effective, we would like to strengthen this by a change of regulation in Wales.

Contact us on [email protected]