Councils are failing to collect fines issued to rogue and criminal landlords despite conducting more property inspections.
New NRLA data – obtained under the Freedom of Information Act – reveals the number of inspections under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) system used to assess risks in rental housing in England has increased by 7% to 91,620 between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
However, while the number of inspections has gone up, it says councils across England are collecting just a quarter of the total number of fines issued to landlords for housing offences.
According to previous data collected by the NRLA, between 2023/24 and 2024/25 of 285 English councils which responded, a total of almost £30 million in fines were issued to private landlords. However, only a quarter of that amount (almost £7.5 million) has been collected.
Warned
The findings come as the cross-party Housing Select Committee has recently warned that the government needs to do more to hold councils to account for tackling the activities of the minority of rogue and criminal landlords undermining the reputation of the compliant majority.
The NRLA has called for all councils to publish annual reports on enforcement activity in the private rented sector. Chief executive Ben Beadle says while an increase in property inspections suggests more proactive enforcement, councils are failing to collect the money they should from those flouting their obligations.
System
“Under a system in which the polluter should be paying, it is those responsible landlords being clobbered with licensing and other fees who are having to cover the costs of rooting out the rogue and criminal minority,” he adds. “This is not sustainable and undermines the confidence of those landlords who we want to keep in the market.”
Landlords whose properties have serious defects are now liable for civil penalties of up to £40,000 under revised health and safety standards which took effect last month. The revised HHSRS aims to make enforcement more consistent, in a climate where many councils are already starting to skip warnings and move straight to penalties under the Renters’ Rights Act.
LGA
A Local Government Association (LGA) spokesman tells LandlordZONE that the majority of landlords are keen to do right by their tenants – ensuring that their properties are up to scratch and meet requirements. “Where councils deem landlords have broken laws, it is important that local government is able to take sufficient enforcement action,” he says.
“Councils face significant challenges to their finances and workforce, and this is having an impact. As such they are looking at the best methods of deploying the resources they have to be most effective. [Many are] looking at ways to increase their footprint. Some councils are recruiting officers into their private rented sector teams to focus specifically on this work, but recruitment strategies will vary across authorities.”
