Landlords are being hit with record fines as growing numbers of local councils launch licensing schemes.
PropTech firm Kamma, which monitors council regimes, says 52 schemes and consultations were launched in 2022.
This is five more than the previous year, and almost 10 more than in 2020, highlighting what Kamma calls “the growing trend of yet more regulation targeting the Private Rented Sector”.
Enforcement is also on the rise.
Fines handed out to rogue landlords and letting agents averaged £90,000 per month in 2022.
Over 12 per cent of all fines in London were handed out in the last 12 months.
August topped the chart as the most active month for fine activity. Fines totalling over £238,000 were handed out in that month alone.
Average fines specifically for letting agents have also increased to £4,695, an increase of over £200 on 2021.
Some 78 per cent of all agent and landlord fines are related to management and licensing of houses and HMOs, which can be linked to the increase in both schemes and enforcement across London.
Camden council has continued to top the enforcement list in terms of number of cases brought forward, followed closely by Newham and Waltham Forest.
Yet the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is now the London borough with the highest average fines of £19,800, followed by Hillingdon with an average of £13,500, and Hackney with £11,250.
Kamma chief executive Orla Shields says: “2022 has been another record year for licensing and fines handed out, with total fines now exceeding £8.1m in London alone.
“At the same time, average agent fines have increased by over £200 just in the last year, with the upward trend continuing into 2023.”
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The only thing councils seem to be good at is sending out bills
They're not that polite. They send out DEMANDS FOR PAYMENT!
And how is this improving the private rented sector? If my observations are repeated many of these landlord who receive a fine sell up so reducing supply so less competition resulting in higher rents. Good for the landlords who remain no benefit to tenants.
Jim Haliburton
The HMODaddy
It’s a win win for the councils… if we pay, good… if we don’t.. Great 🎉 it’s “ fine” time and they get the original amount as well, Kerching 💰💰💰
And they’re own housing stock isn’t fit for purpose extortion plain and simple
What’s the definition of a rogue landlord now?
A social one
Ask the councils, they should know.
Michael my friend the definition of a Rogue Landlord now is one who provides quality affordable housing to all comers (a moron).
Greenfell tower !
I have no problem with genuine faults being fixed, but this should apply to social landlords as well. Are the fines actually for disrepair or some failure of paperwork?
Sometimes just failure to apply for a license.
No monies from fines go towards repairs or maintenance. The landlords effectively get hit twice. Cost of fines plus cost to put right things that are found to be wrong.
Failure of paperwork is regarded as very serious by all bureaucrats as it's all they understand.
Actually DOING things is beyond their experience and understanding.
I would be interested to hear more detail about what exactly the fines are for. If the fines are for providing housing that is similar to the conditions shown on ITV News, for example water inside homes for weeks or even months with no effort being made by landlords to put things right when they could do so, or failure to undertake a gas safety check, then as a landlord myself I'm all for the fines. But if the fines are for very minor problems e.g. a tiny bit of mould in a bathroom that the tenants themselves probably caused and could treat with a squirt of anti-mould foam - amazing stuff by the way and the landlord is offering to pay for the foam etc. and make sure it isn't a damp problem that can be put right then that is wrong. The devil is in the detail. But are landlords seriously saying that fines shouldn't be imposed for serious problems that they, the landlords are refusing/failing with no excuse to put right?
Stephanie my friend you don’t know what you are talking about, if you get hit with a £30k fine for sweet f a you’ll know what this game is.
I have been serving this life sentence since the introduction of licensing in 2006. The thousands of man hours of work created and lost at my expense, the huge administration, the thousands of pounds in license fees, the thousands of sheets of paper forms of compliance and certificated. The endless week ends and nights sacrificed for years, the hundreds of thousands paid in tax, for providing quality affordable housing, without any Public funding.
Stephanie you are correct we deserve extra punishment for being Private Landlords such mugs and everyone’s cash cow.
Edwin, you are right about Greenfell. I was listening to the radio that night before 11.45 pm, everyone told to stay inside and lock the doors.
Then at 3.00 o’clock when the fire was raging the message changed come out now if you can.
The natural instinct for anyone when there is a fire would be to get to hell out of there.
72 dead RIP they should have been all gaoled clowns in charge of us.
If Greenfell had been owned by one of us we would be serving 20 yrs for corporate manslaughter now, funny how the law differs
Andrew… so true.
As a customer Landlord I have carried out my own due-diligence in NI and UK's civil service systems -- it seems that the top civil service/council departments' policies had deleted the overriding statutory Implied terms for customer care -- with the wrong management procedures as reflected in the system's chaos. Based on oath, government's Roads fair contracts comparisons: happy marriage between (overiding statutory implied terms +common law secondary legislation) -- overriding statute + solicitors' common law principles, the customers (stakeholders, tenants, solicitors, letting agents, landlords or investors) the core of all agreements (repudiatory breaches) have been wiped out at the very start by the bias that exists between the customers and the status-quo dysfunctional system. Yes one may be lucky to get the Right solicitor, but in bad cases if the solicitor/letting agent was negligent, but it is the landlords' fault as the overriding Implied statute has been deleted in the stature + common law equation by goal-post shifting solicitors in some sort of 'unresolved' argument between the 1 min Ministers and the inustry leader sollicitors. At a recent conference as a landlord, I have no problem of complying with Minister's Felicity Buckman's wishes with a civil-service/councils' fair contract (statute + solicitors' common law). At conference, 1 speaker was saying 'top-down' whereas it was 'common law' solicitors road-block goal-post shifting -- customers' wipe-out policies -- with landlord do not agree with the top industry solicitors' common law's response. There must be a happy marriage in 'thoughts and mindset' at outset between statute and common law. When will this happen with the solicitors' common law admission of some sort of 'unresolved' dispute with the 1-min Ministers. That gap between design common law, wiped out agreements must be closed for a starting statute +common law pivot point in mindset and thoughts --with the right civil-service management procedures to stop this 'blame' war on landlords in particular. It is a no, no, to repudiatory breaches of contract agreements as the proper systems are not in place --oddly supported by solicitors on one hand, but pass the blame onto the customers. Will statute for customer care interests come later?
Sorry but I have no idea what you're saying!
Me neither Robert
That has to be the strangest post I've ever read !!
William, my friend how on Earth are we supposed to de-syphon that lot.
We are landlords who provide property for Letting, if the powers that be are this convoluted no hope of them understanding the PRS, or communication with landlords, no wonder we are in a mess it must be the same people that’s writing the Regulation’s for LL’s probably in Mr Gove’s Office
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