Helping Landlords and agents deal with Local Authority Enforcement

The new rules under the Renters Rights Act 2025

On 27 December 2025, new investigatory powers came into effect, making it easier for Local Authorities to enter and inspect properties and demand information. 

These are to help them crack down on rogue landlords and letting agents, and enforce the rules more effectively.  

On 1 May 2026 when the first stage of the Renters Rights Act comes into force, Local Authorities will acquire new powers to fine landlords and bring claims for Rent Repayment Orders, which include higher fines and awards.

They will also be under a legal duty to enforce the landlord legislation in their area. 

This has not been the case before, which is why so many Local Authorities failed to enforce even against appalling landlord behaviour.  

However, they won’t be allowed to do this in future as Tenants Organisations will be bringing  Judicial Review claims against Local Authorities who fail to take proper action.

What does this mean for landlords and their agents?

Although no doubt Local Authorities will be focusing their attention on the rogues and criminals, good landlords may still face enforcement action if they inadvertently breach the rules.

This also goes for letting agents.  The legislation makes it clear that in virtually all cases the landlord will be liable, but if the property is being managed by an agent, the agent will be liable too.

So it is important that both landlords and letting agents fully understand the new rules and penalties.

In order to help with this, I have now created:

The Dealing with Local Authority Enforcement Kit (or Guide)

This took some time to do, and I have been working on it since the beginning of December.  There are four parts:

Part 1 – Introduction.  

There is an initial introductory and explanatory section followed by:

Local Authority investigations.  This looks at how Local Authorities find out which landlords or agents are in breach, and the legal powers they have to demand information, enter properties and remove documents

Local Authority decision making.  This covers basic legal issues such as the difference between breaches and offences, the standard of proof, and the options for enforcement actions.  The final section in Part 1 covers the things Local Authorities take into account when deciding on the level of a Civil Penalty fine.

Part 2 – Breaches and Offences

This section goes through all of the individual breaches and offences which can lead to enforcement action.  For each, we discuss the likely level of fines and what you can do to protect your position.

Part 3 – Civil Penalty Notices

This section explains the procedure that Local Authorities need to follow when issuing a Civil Penalty Notice, along with guidance on how to deal with them.

Part 4 – Rent Repayment Orders

If any part of the rent has been paid by any form of benefit, and landlords have committed a breach or offence, Local Authorities are under a legal duty to consider whether an application for a Rent Repayment Order would be appropriate.

In part 4, we look at the various offences these applications can be based on, the procedure, and what landlords can do if action is threatened.

The final part of this section has a summary and final thoughts.  

Training

The Landlord Law members’ training session on 21 January 2026  is going to be on Local Authority Enforcement action, when I will be going through the new kit and explaining it to Landlords.

As enforcement post May 2026 can be very expensive for landlords and agents, members are recommended to attend this or, if you are reading this after 21 January, watch the recording.

All the recordings for member training can be found here.