On 23 November the new Welsh landlord and agent licensing scheme was launched. The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 introduces a requirement for all landlords who own a property in Wales to register on the Rent Smart Wales web site (or a paper application is available at a higher cost). The online cost is £33.50 and if done in paper form it is £80.50 as the cost of handling paper applications will be higher. Landlords will be charged £144 for online landlord licence applications and £186 for paper applications. Agents will be charged £3,728 for their licence application. The online application is not yet available and the site says the paper application will cost £4,368 once the online application is available. For an agent who does not employ any staff, the licence will cost £144 online and £186 in paper form. This is designed for situations where one person owns a property and their partner is involved in the management. In addition to the licence and registrations fees, licensing requires training (which TFP have applied to be approved to provide) and this will cost £100 for landlords and £140 for agents (all customer facing staff in Wales have to attend training). The agent training is 2 hours longer than the landlord training. TFP await confirmation of approval and will be able to offer letting agents a range of innovative and cost effective training for letting agents and their landlords.