17 Aug 26 Landlords in one local authority area could see locally set housing fines increased by up to 50% where the council finds aggravating factors such as previous non-compliance, a breach lasting more than six months or deliberate offending. It is now consulting on a tougher Housing Services Enforcement & Financial Penalty Policy, drawn up after new duties and powers under the Renters’ Rights Act. Proposed starting penalties include £20,000 for failing to carry out required
Court Fines, Civil Penalties and News
17 Aug 26 Receiving a Rent Repayment Order application is not the time to negotiate or hope the issue will resolve itself. Where licensing is at the centre of an RRO application, the legal process is already underway. Many landlords make the mistake of responding without understanding the evidence, the tribunal process or the legal issues involved. That can weaken their position before the hearing has even begun. Why does this matter? Because tribunal proceedings
05 Aug 26 Breckland Council has recovered over £216,000 from two criminal landlords in Thetford. This comes as a result of the Private Sector Housing Team cracking down on some of the most neglected properties owned by repeat offending landlords. A landlord, letting 11 homes in the Thetford area, was recently found to be renting out accommodation without electrical safety checks. Following an inspection from Breckland’s Private Sector Housing Team, the properties were deemed unsafe
06 Apr 26 Two landlords in the same city have been prosecuted for failing to provide paperwork to authorities. The cases were brought by Derby council. Both followed investigations after residents complained about the way properties were being managed. Talwar, 79, was prosecuted for failing to provide complete records of tenancy agreements and rental income for a property. Magistrates found Talwar guilty in her absence. She was fined £440 and ordered to pay £689.88 in
27 Mar 26 A £400,000 fund will help London’s renters challenge landlords and understand their rights when the Renters’ Rights Act takes effect on 1 May. The cash will back advice services, renter groups and training for borough officers who pursue criminal landlords. The mayor, Sadiq Khan, launched the enforcement fund with a call for rent cap powers to be devolved. Also, new YouGov polling commissioned by the Greater London Authority has found three-quarters of Londoners would
05 Mar 26 A city council has unveiled a huge cash injection to deal with ‘rogue’ landlords ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act being implemented in May. It says that landlords will face increased scrutiny as the council prepares for new enforcement duties tied to the rental reforms. City of Wolverhampton Council has confirmed it will commit an extra £714,000 during the 2026/27 financial year to strengthen its private sector housing enforcement activity. The cash will support
18 Feb 2026 Des Taylor, Landlords Licensing & Defence Two notices of intent to impose a Financial Penalty landed on a landlord’s desk in November 2025 The allegations were operating an unlicensed mandatory HMO under section 72 Housing Act 2004 and breaching multiple HMO Management Regulations under section 234. The proposed civil penalties totalled £30,000. The property had been let as a single-family dwelling. There was no evidence from the PACE interview that the landlord
20 Jan 26 A landlord pair have lost their appeal against a £579,000 bill following a long-running legal battle with Camden Council. Salem, 66, of Highview Gardens, Finchley and Robinson-Dadoun, 58, formerly of Brampton Grove, Hendon, were prosecuted by Camden Council in February 2024 after they failed to comply with an enforcement notice. The pair had illegally sub-divided a house in Fortune Green Road, Hampstead, into seven substandard flats, despite only being granted permission for four. Following an
23 Nov 25 Housebuilders will receive automatic approval to construct homes near train stations under new government plans. Housing Secretary Steve Reed has announced updates to planning rules that will streamline development on land within a 15-minute walk of train stations, including some green belt areas. Councils in England will also be required to notify the government when they plan to reject large housing developments of 150 or more homes, with the Housing Secretary able
14 Nov 25 A property company and landlord have been fined over £58,000 after an unlicensed and unsafe House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) in Essex. Uttlesford council’s inspection of the former Skyline Hotel in June 2024 revealed serious safety failings, including the absence of fire alarms, emergency lighting, and safe escape routes. Despite an emergency prohibition order being served, tenants continued living in the building for several months. At Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last week, Dawn
30 Oct 25 Rachel Reeves has committed a strict liability crime under section 95 of the Housing Act 2004 (failure to licence a property) with unlimited fines if prosecuted in court. Alternatively councils can issue a civil financial penalty up to £30,000 (and keep the money). Councils treat this as one of the most heinous crimes possible and we see dozens of small landlords every week fined often between £12,000 to £20,000 for this
12 Sep 25 Agents risk big penalties and criminal records for violations as cash-strapped councils target them with unlimited fines and threats of criminal prosecution. Landlords and agents who manage HMOs can face civil penalties of up to £50,000 and prison sentences of up to five years for fly-tipping and waste disposal rule breaches, warns waste disposal expert Graham Matthews (pictured) of BusinessWaste.co.uk. The warning comes just as thousands of students move into HMO accommodation
22 Aug 25 The Mayor of Salford has praised tough housing enforcement after rogue landlords were handed £2.2 million in fines. According to the Manchester Evening News, the penalties were issued as part of a major enforcement crackdown targeting poor standards in the private rented sector. The news comes after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham launched the Good Landlord Charter, which aims to promote high standards in rental properties. Enforcement side around the PRS is important
Former tenants had attempted to claim back all the rent they’d paid Two tenants attempted to claim a refund of all the rent they’d paid for their flat when they were informed of a licensing discrepancy AFTER they’d left the property. The tenants lived in the flat for less than a year, and neither they nor their landlord were aware that Additional Licensing had been introduced by the local authority until after they’d moved out.
The no win, no fee company that dealt with this case may have thought they’d found a loophole that would net them even more cash – but the court didn’t agree and threw the claim out. The circumstances of the Rent Repayment Order submitted by the company on behalf of the tenants in this case are fairly typical: they identified an area with a requirement for Selective Licensing, and contacted tenants they believed to be
24 Jul 25 A row over the Renters Rights Bill between the government and tech company Reapit has stepped up a gear. Reapit wants that government to release its Justice Impact Test for the Renters Rights Bill. Reapit is convinced it will show the court system as woefully inadequate to cope with the expected legal cases surrounding evictions that will come as a result of the Bill’s abolition of Section 21. Reapit initially wrote to
HMO tenants withdrew claim after illegally sub-letting Tenants who attempted to claim back a full year’s worth of rent from their former landlord were forced to withdraw their application after acknowledging they had illegally sub-let part of the HMO they lived in, thanks to the skill and expertise of Landlord Licensing & Defence. The property owner had the correct licence for an HMO with five tenants. However, the occupants decided to reduce their costs by
A landlord suffering from long covid had a Rent Repayment Order reduced by 35% after turning to Landlord Licensing & Defence for help. The tenants of the property, who had no complaints and were happily still living there, had attempted to claim a refund of all the rent they’d paid for seven months when they discovered their home had not been covered by the required Selective Licence during that time. The licensing requirement had been
This case illustrates the importance of taking expert advice before renting out spare rooms. When the owner occupier of this property decided to share their home, they unwittingly turned it into an HMO. With lots of room to spare in the London home shared with a family member, the owner decided to open it up to three trusted housemates. But the relationship turned sour when a no-win, no-fee company that specialises in seeking out breaches
Error on local authority website led to temporary lack of licence An error by a local authority resulted in a couple being without the correct licence for their rented property – which meant their tenants were perfectly within their rights to submit a Rent Repayment Order for £20,700. Although the local authority admitted the licensing information on its website was incorrect, breaches are strict liability criminal offences. This means that the landlord is liable as
Property manager used life savings to settle tenants’ claim via ‘no win, no fee’ company A property agent used his own life savings to settle a claim from tenants who applied for a Rent Repayment Order on the advice of a ‘no win, no fee’ claims company. The honourable manager accepted responsibility for an administrative oversight that had resulted in a privately rented property temporarily being without the licence required by the local authority. Before
Estate agent’s error triggered legal nightmare for landlord A low-income disability worker was hit with a bill of over £9,000 when three former tenants claimed back the rent they paid during a temporary gap in licensing of the rented property. The tenants, who had since left the property, had been safe and happy in their home and were never at any risk of harm as a result of the minor administrative error. Tempted by the
Shocking case illustrates significant issues with housing law Landlord Licensing & Defence deals with calls from desperate landlords every day, but this case shocked even the most experienced legal experts. It involves incompetent agents, unscrupulous tenants, an unrepentant local authority, and an innocent couple put through unimaginable stress and the threat of financial ruin. The appalling set of circumstances illustrates the importance of landlords keeping a close eye on their property, even if management has
14 Apr 2025 Failure to comply with the confiscation order could result in a prison sentence of two years and nine months. A husband and wife have been ordered to pay more than £270,000 after they illegally converted a house in Hillingdon into four separate cramped flats. Amarjit xx, 54, and Jasbinder xx, 45, of Munster Avenue, Hounslow, illegally subdivided a house in Yiewsley and constructed an outbuilding for rent without planning permission. The couple appeared at Isleworth Crown
08 Apr 2025 A rogue landlord has been ordered to pay over £43,000 for breaching planning controls and failing to comply with an enforcement notice. XXXX Margulies of BMR Hemini Ltd operates more than 200 properties across London with a business model focussed on buying residential properties and converting them into HMOs to rent to individual tenants. In 2022 the company purchased a house in Putney and constructed a substantial extension to increase the number
8 Apr 2025 A landlord has been fined £29,000 after being found guilty of failing to license a number of privately rented flats in Loughborough. xxxxx Odunaiya was prosecuted by Charnwood Borough Council for failing to license 29 flats under its selective licensing scheme. Odunaiya denied the charges at Leicester Magistrates Court but was found guilty after a trial. The court was told Odunaiya was the owner of a building which has 40 flats: she
17 Mar 25 A tribunal decision on 13th March 2025 has emphatically vindicated an innocent landlord, after an unsuccessful Rent Repayment Order (RRO) claim was brought by tenants, assisted by Justice for Tenants. The case, heard at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on 14 February 2025, concluded with a complete rejection of the tenants’ claims. The tribunal ruled that the landlord had met all licensing obligations and had, in fact, been the victim of administrative failings by
05 Mar 25 A property company and its owner have been fined approaching £5,000 for operating an illegal House of Multiple Occupancy. Souhil Laib, owner and director of Laib Property Investment Limited, has been found guilty for a second time for operating an HMO without a licence from Rhondda Cynon Taf council’s environmental health department. He has been the ‘person in control’ of premises that housed eight flats since 2021. In March 2022, he received
27 Jan 25 A buy-to-let landlord in east London has been ordered to repay more than £5,000 to tenants she illegally evicted them after cutting off their electricity and changing the locks. Nolte was found liable for a £5,055 repayment by a government property tribunal. The case was brought by mother and daughter Anita and Yazmin Summan, who claimed they endured verbal abuse, poor living conditions, and an illegal eviction while renting a two-bedroom property on
21 Jan 25 Are you delusional like this landlord was? The landlord who decided to take this all the way to a hearing was delusional. Licensing is strict liability so not being told by the council was absolute nonsense as was any statement repeating the same. Having been issued an improvement notice that you have not appealed is stupidity to then argue against it. Professional advice after the inspection would have avoided much of the
09 Jan 25 Figures from the Home Builders Federation show a continued downward trend in planning approval figures for Q3 2024 in both the number of sites and units approved. This illustrates the scale of the task for Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner to meet the target of 1.5m new homes by mid-2029. With just 2,260 sites approved in the months of July to September, this marks a 10% decline from the
£22,500 fine completely quashed! Yet another Council not acting as required by the law. Landlord Licensing & Defence was able to get the fine quashed for our Landlord client after our forensic analysis of the case detail and data proved the council had issued the fine before they had completed their investigation. The law is very, very clear, and we were able to prove that the council did not have evidence to the legally required
16 Dec 24 Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has confirmed a set of sweeping planning changes she wants to implement across local councils. This includes mandatory training for councillors who serve on local authority planning committees. Following speculation at the weekend Rayner has now released details of plans which she will consult on officially after the festive season. Under proposals to modernise the planning approval process, applications that comply with local development
14 Dec 24 A landlord has been given a suspended jail sentence after being prosecuted for putting the lives and safety of tenants at risk. The landlord, Mr Chen, pleaded guilty to four breaches a property in Preston. In July 2021, fire safety officers inspected the property as part of a multi-agency inspection. Due to an inadequate fire alarm system and inadequate means of escape, a Prohibition Notice was served stating that the premises could
04 Dec 24 A rogue landlord who turned her three-bedroom bungalow into a 15-room unlicensed HMO where tenants slept on camp beds in windowless rooms has been handed a £12,000 fine. Staines Magistrates’ Court heard that Jetwani, 53, of St Pauls Road, Egham, and her brother initially became aggressive and threatened to make complaints when Runnymede Council staff tried to visit the property. They found shoddy construction methods had been used to create 15 spaces,
14 Nov 24 A landlord has been fined £12,000 for failing to comply with an improvement notice that was issued after serious hazards were found at a property. Officers from Swale council’s carried out an inspection of the property in Sheerness after a tenant complaint. The officers found severe and extensive dampness and mould, excess cold due to inadequate heating and poor insulation, harbourage for pests, fall hazards, and fire safety issues due to the lack
12 Nov 24 At Planning Committee on 4 September 2024, Ealing Council approved two HMO Article 4 Directions covering most of the borough. The effect of an HMO Article 4 Direction is to remove permitted development rights to convert a single family home (use class C3) into a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with 3 to 6 occupants (use class C4). This is completely separate from property licensing. From the date an HMO Article 4
11 Nov 24 At a Cabinet Meeting on 9 July 2024, Waltham Forest Council decided to renew their additional and selective licensing schemes. New additional licensing scheme The council’s existing borough wide additional licensing scheme ends on 31 March 2025. The new scheme designation will come into force on 1 April 2025 and continue for another five years. The scheme will include most Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) that are not already licensable under the
11 Nov 24 An agency in North West London has been found guilty of a series of offences under the Housing Act 2004 at two Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Camden. At Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, London Living Group Limited of Chalk Farm Parade, Adelaide Road, London and its company director, Odeh-Torro, of London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and Chalk Farm Parade, Adelaide Road, London were convicted of a total of eight offences under the Housing
11 Nov 24 Two landlords who refused to stop using their property as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) despite losing a planning appeal have been found guilty at court. The Woodwards purchased the property on Dagenham Road, Dagenham in June 2016. In August 2019, Mr Woodward applied for a HMO licence, which was granted in September 2019. However, Barking & Dagenham’s Planning Enforcement Team informed the Woodwards that planning permission was also required to
08 Nov 24 Freehold company HAAB Development Limited and company director Adil have pleaded guilty for failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice for a property in the Queen’s Park Estate Conservation Area in North Paddington. At the sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 10 September 2024, HAAB Development Limited and the director of the company, Mr Adil were ordered to pay £415,101.13 for criminal conduct under the Proceeds of Crime Act, within three
07 Nov 24 Three landlords have been fined a collective £452,796 for “significant breaches” of the Housing Act 2004, by West Northamptonshire Council. The convictions were secured by the council’s private sector housing team and involved eight unlicensed properties across Northampton. The breaches at the properties – on Obelisk Rise, Aynho Crescent, Hinton road, Chalcombe Avenue, Kingsland Avenue and Culworth Crescent – ranged from fire safety failings to inadequate tenant information. The judgement was handed
06 Nov 24 The case involved sub-letting of rooms in their rental house by the tenant – creating an illegal HMO – unknown to the letting agent and landlords. The law is clear that the landlord is nonetheless responsible at law for any illegal HMO and compliance with the HMO Management Regulations and HMO licensing. The Local Housing Authority planned to serve the landlord with a Civil Penalty Notice for £22,500 for failure to licence
31 Oct 24 Gateshead council has prosecuted a local landlord fined £7,000 for letting out three dangerous flats. Hall of Birtley pleaded guilty to a charge under the Housing Act 2004. He was fined £1,115 for poor conditions at each property totalling £3,345, a £446 surcharge, and £3,200 costs awarded to the council. The offences related to one property in Bensham and two properties in Birtley, where the council had required Hall to carry out
18 Oct 24 A landlord who was fined £37,000 for severe safety violations has had an appeal rejected, and now faces a bill of just over £42,500. Ahmed, from Cardiff, was represented at Crown Court by his daughter: they requested an adjournment to gather evidence from the South Wales Police to support his claim that he was unable to carry out the necessary repairs due to alleged anti-social behaviour and squatters in the building. However,
07 Oct 24 A rogue landlord who left a family of eight in damp and dangerous conditions has been told to pay more than £3,000 by magistrates. xxxx Jackson, of Rhyd-Y-Penau Road, Cyncoed in Cardiff, didn’t have a selective licence for the Tow Law property in County Durham which he rented to the couple and their six children between April 2022 and October 2023 through his company Welcome Homes. Peterlee Magistrates Court heard how the tenants
30 Sep 24 A landlord has been fined £405,000 after he left his tenants to live in “appalling” conditions. xxxx Keshmiri, 59, from Lincoln, was handed the penalty by the city’s magistrates after admitting 28 charges. Tenants were living in dangerous and squalid flats deemed “not cleanable due to years of neglect”, City of Lincoln Council said. The fine is believed to be one of the biggest ever handed out to an “individual rogue landlord”,
17 Sep 24 With the consultation on the new National Planning Policy Framework set to close this month, Adam Carey looks at the proposed changes to green belt release and the implications for councils and the planning system as a whole. The Government’s recently launched consultation on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) contains a series of reforms to the framework that are aimed at delivering on its goal of building 1.5 million
17 Sep 24 Be certain that councils will fine Landlords when even they can and they have pockets deep enough to pursue you through every court in the land to get their money from you. Ed. Now read on: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s policy on charges for Housing Act offences by landlords did not improperly fetter the council’s discretion over discounts and penalties, the Court of Appeal has found. Bradford won its case, overturning
09 Sep 24 If anyone thinks Angela Rayner spent the whole summer boogying on Ibiza, think again. She and her team, and perhaps most of all their civil servants, were hard at it in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government preparing for what can only be called a tsunami of consultations and proposals coming our way very soon. If you want evidence, check out the comments made by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook at
05 Sep 24 A landlord has been given a suspended sentence of 26 weeks and electronically tagged for four months after putting the lives of her tenants at risk by not maintaining gas appliances at a property in Kent. Holliday, 62, refused to undertake gas safety checks even after the Health and Safety Executive took enforcement action against her. She claimed to have no money for undertaking maintenance to the property, leaving the tenants with
21 Aug 24 A statutory consultation process is now underway, until mid-October, with details on Lambeth’s consultation webpage. A Labour council in London is seeking much greater control over the creation of so-called ‘small HMOs’. Lambeth council wants anyone creating a so-called ‘small HMO’ – which has between three and six occupiers – to require planning consent. This would apply in two wards where, the council claims, “residents have expressed concerns relating to the notably high number
12 Aug 24 A Hastings landlord has been fined £10,000 after failing to provide a satisfactory Electrical Safety Installation Certificate to the town council. The council had requested that the landlord provided the certificate, which shows that electrical safety standards are met within a property. It is a legal requirement to produce the certificate when a council asks for it. The Housing Renewals team at the council worked with him and after he failed to
23 Jul 24 A council has warned so-called “evaders” that they are in its sights after forcing the sale of a property on which almost £36,000 of outstanding council tax was owed. The debt owed and legal costs were recovered from the proceeds of the sale of the property, with the balance going back to the home’s former owners. The council in question – Gravesend – says it is pursuing another 109 high value cases,
11 Jul 24 A council is next week considering a move which is seen as a trigger for wider national policy changes regarding Airbnbs and other short lets. A report to be considered by Gwynedd council’s cabinet on July 16 recommends confirming the implementation of Article 4 Direction to control the use of houses as second homes and holiday accommodation. If agreed this would enable the council, as the local planning authority, to require property
09 Jul 24 Keir Starmer’s party has won a large majority as many expected. As we gear up for the first Labour government for 14 years, here is a reminder of what has been pledged Labour has won a historic landslide and now housing figures will be turning their eyes to the party’s pledges for the built environment. The party has put planning reforms and housebuilding at the centre of its 142-page manifesto, which it
24 Jun 24 If the UK returned to pre-financial crisis productivity levels, salaries could be up to 25% higher England is short of 2.5 million homes and needs to build 550,000 each year from now until 2031 to address the backlog and support future population growth, according to consultant Bidwells. The figures, produced in partnership with the Office for National Statistics, form part of Bidwells’ new report, The Productivity Engine, which looks at the key barriers holding
24 Jun 24 A landlord has been ordered to pay more than £20,000 after being found guilty of offences related to the living conditions at a property he let to a family. Eric Moon, 81, of Rye was found guilty at Hastings Magistrates Court of three counts of non-compliance with Improvement Notices served under the Housing Act 2004. In December 2022 the tenants of a property owned by Moon complained to Rother council about the
14 Jun 24 The owners of a large HMO in London have been fined £13,500 after failing to repair multiple hazards within their property. A series of Improvement Notices under the Housing Act 2004 were issued to the landlords in Haringey after severe hazards were identified throughout the property, including communal areas. Additionally, four out of the eight flats within the property were found to be affected with damp and mould, posing significant health risks
13 Jun 24 A recent court case in Sheffield serves as a stark reminder to landlords across the UK of their legal obligation to ensure fire safety in their rental properties. Zahir Ahmed of Sheffield was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 250 hours of community service after admitting to violating fire safety laws. The case stemmed from a fire at a property he owned in February 2022. Thankfully, firefighters
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