The scheme let you lease a home to the council for 5 to 20 years, at guaranteed rent, with the council managing it. It takes no new homes after December 2026. In Cardiff it has already stopped taking applications. This page covers what is still open to you and how the rents compare.
Cardiff Council says Leasing Scheme Wales is closed to new applications because of high demand. It points landlords to its own Private Rented Sector Scheme instead.
Across Wales, the Welsh Government has said no further homes should join after December 2026. The scheme is funded until March 2027. Homes already leased carry on under their existing arrangements.
Cardiff Council, Landlord Enquiries and Tenancy Support Services (LETS); LandlordZONE, quoting the Welsh Government and the NRLA. Both checked 23 September 2026.Each one suits a different landlord. None of them is guaranteed rent for twenty years, which was the draw of the lease scheme.
The council's Private Rented Sector Scheme is still open. The council puts forward contract-holders for you to choose from, goes to the viewings and supports the household during the contract. You stay the landlord and manage the flat. There is no management fee, a free property inspection, help registering with Rent Smart Wales, and renovation grants where the flat needs work. Details are on the LETS page.
You find the contract-holder, issue the contract and manage the flat. You will need a Rent Smart Wales licence and the training that goes with it, as well as your registration. How licensing works, and what it costs.
This is the closest thing to the lease scheme's hands-off side. The agent does the letting and management, and you keep your registration and the decisions. The rent is the market rent, not the Local Housing Allowance, and it is not guaranteed. We are one such agent. There are others, and you should compare.
You can sell with the contract-holder in place, usually to another landlord. Or you can sell with vacant possession, which starts with a notice. For most periodic contracts the notice is at least six months, and it cannot be given in the first six months of occupation. Our free Cloc calendar works out the earliest date from your own dates.
The lease scheme paid the Local Housing Allowance. In Cardiff that has been frozen at its April 2024 level, and it now sits well below the average rent.
| Size | Local Housing Allowance | Cardiff average rent | Gap a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | £648 | £908 | £260 |
| 2 bedrooms | £823 | £1,085 | £262 |
| 3 bedrooms | £922 | £1,211 | £289 |
| 4 or more | £1,296 | £1,703 | £407 |
Cardiff closed the lease scheme to new applications before the national deadline. The Private Rented Sector Scheme and its grants depend on council funding too. Check the LETS page, or call the team, before you plan around one.
Cardiff charges a council tax premium on homes left empty and substantially unfurnished. The bill doubles after a year empty, triples after two and quadruples after three (Cardiff Council, March 2024). Waiting to decide has a cost.
We are a licensed letting agent, not the council and not your accountant. This page sets out the published position with a source for each fact. It is not legal, tax or financial advice.
Cloc, our free Welsh landlord calendar, has a Flat File. It shows your flat's energy certificate and what the certificate says it needs to reach C. It shows what the flat and the flats around it have sold for, and a year of keeping, selling or leaving it empty, worked out from your own figures. Or tell us about the flat and we will give you our honest reading of the options, including the ones that don't involve us.
No charge, no obligation, and no one will chase you afterwards.