PART II – ENFORCEMENT
Introduction
Following Part I where the investigative powers contained within the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (‘the Act’) were examined, Part II of this article now seeks to delve into the provisions relating to enforcement. You can read Part I here >>>.
Breaches and Offences
The Act’s enforcement model categorises non-compliance by landlords or their agents into two categories: breaches and offences.
A breach can result in a landlord or their agent being fined up to £7,000 if they do any of the following:
- claim to let the property on a fixed-term tenancy instead of a rolling tenancy, for example, by adding an end date
- claim to end a tenancy verbally
- require a tenancy to be ended verbally
- fail to give a tenant written notice that a specified ground might be used where this is required by law
- fail to give a written statement of terms containing the information required by regulations
- fail to give existing tenants a copy of the Government published ‘information sheet’ before 1 June 2026.
- use a possession ground in a section 8 notice, ‘purported’ notice of possession or claim form when they do not reasonably believe that a possession order will be granted by the court on that ground
- try to end the tenancy using a notice to quit or purported notice of possession
Landlords or their agents committing offences can be given a financial penalty of up to £40,000 or prosecuted. An offence may be committed if the following is done by a landlord or their agent:
- a property is relet or remarketed within the 12 month no relet and remarketing ‘restricted period’ after using statutory grounds for possession 1 or 1A, unless they took all reasonable steps not to or an exception applies
- knowingly used a ground for possession despite knowing that a court would not order possession on it, or being reckless about that, resulting in the tenant leaving within 4 months without an order for possession being made
- committed a breach within 5 years of a previous offence
- committed a breach within 5 years of receiving a financial penalty for a previous breach that has not been withdrawn
- continued to commit a breach for more than 28 days after receiving a financial penalty for that breach that has not been withdrawn and is not the subject of an ongoing appeal.
Having established non-compliance, a local housing authority must determine, in line with their policy, what steps to take in the first instance to address the breach or offence. This can include formal action such as issuing a statutory notice, issuing a civil penalty notice, or commencing prosecution proceedings.
Where any steps to end the non-compliance have failed, or where it is not possible to remove the non-compliance, and the local housing authority is satisfied that the necessary evidential threshold is reached and proceeding is in the public interest, it must issue a civil penalty notice or start prosecution proceedings.
At this stage, it is important to note that local authorities will be exercising a quasi-judicial function if they decide to issue a civil penalty as they must be satisfied to the appropriate standard of proof that the person has breached the relevant statutory requirement or committed the relevant offence. Defence practitioners will take note any such decision is therefore open to Judicial Review. Accordingly, local authorities are advised to take particular care in drafting, and following, any policies which guide their enforcement decisions.
As for the burden of proof, breaches relating to discrimination against prospective tenants (ss.33–34) and to rental bidding (s.56) require a civil standard of proof. All other breaches and offenses require a criminal standard of proof to be established. Thus, if imposing a civil penalty for a breach or offence which must be proved to the criminal standard, a local authority must be satisfied there would be a realistic prospect of conviction if the case were to be prosecuted in the Magistrates’ Court.
Imposing a civil penalty – procedure
Prior to imposing a civil penalty to a landlord or their agent, a local authority is required to give a notice of intent setting out:
- the date on which the notice of intent is given
- the amount of the proposed financial penalty
- the reasons for proposing to impose the penalty
- information about their right to make representations
Local authorities should be aware that they have up until 6 months following the date on which they have sufficient evidence of the conduct the penalty relates to, or 6 months after the conduct stops to serve the notice of intent.
Following receipt of a notice of intent, defence practitioners should be aware that there is a period of 28 days in which representations can be made. This provides an opportunity to tell the local authority why the civil penalty should not be imposed.
Once 28 days from the receipt of the notice of intent have passed, and if the local authority decides they will be imposing a penalty, the local authority must give a final notice setting out:
- the date on which the final notice is given
- the amount of the civil penalty
- the reasons for imposing the penalty
- information about how to pay the penalty
- the period for payment of the penalty (28 days)
- information about the right to appeal
- the consequences of failing to comply with the notice
Of note, a local authority can withdraw a final notice at any time and so defence practitioners may wish to make representations notwithstanding the lapse of the initial 28-day period. Such situations may arise, for example, where a landlord does not seek initial advice until they are in receipt of a final notice.
Appeals
Once a final notice is given, the recipient has 28 days from the date of issue to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). Appeals are by way of a re-hearing and fresh evidence that was not originally known by the local authority may be heard. The Tribunal has the power to confirm/cancel the civil penalty or to amend the amount. Thus, landlords must be advised that an appeal can result in an increase to the amount of the civil penalty.
Permission may be sought to appeal the decision of the First-tier Tribunal to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber).
Enforcing a civil penalty
If a civil penalty is not paid within the required time, a local authority must apply to the County Court for an order to enable enforcement of the debt. To do this, a chief finance officer at the local authority is required to sign a statement stating that the amount due remains outstanding by a specified date. Such a statement will be treated as conclusive evidence by the Court.
Rent Repayment Orders (RROs)
Landlords who are found to have committed certain offences risk having an RRO made against them if their rent (or part of their rent) is paid via Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. The consequences of this can be severe as a landlord against whom a RRO is made may have to pay back up to 2 years’ worth of rent.
In order for a RRO to be obtained, a local authority must send the landlord a notice of intended proceedings and make an application to the FTT. Following a Tribunal hearing, the FTT will decide whether an RRO will be made and for what amount. There is a 2-year time limit from when a landlord commits the relevant offence during which an application for a RRO must be made.
Further, there is a duty on local authorities to consider whether an RRO should be sought once they become aware that a landlord has been convicted of an offence which can give rise to a RRO.
Local authorities should be aware that tenants can also obtain an RRO against a landlord if they paid for part of the rent themselves. In such scenarios, a local authority should consider informing the tenant that they too can make an application and may wish to support the tenant with their application should they choose to make one. To this end, a local authority and a tenant can each submit their own application to the FTT which has the discretion to hear the cases together.
Conclusion
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 introduces significantly strengthened investigatory powers, underpinned by a statutory duty on local housing authorities to take enforcement action where appropriate. Accordingly, local authorities, landlords, letting agents, and their solicitors would be well advised to ensure they fully appreciate the new powers introduced by the Act. It is hoped that this article has assisted parties in this regard.
This article reflects the law as of the date it was published. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the law in this article is correct, it is intended to give a general overview of the law for educational and/or informational purposes. It is not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice and should not be relied upon for this purpose. This article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the view of any other member of St Philips Chambers.
