Councils collect just a quarter of landlord fines – NRLA

England’s councils are collecting only a fraction of fines issued for landlord offences, even as local authority inspection numbers grow.

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) says councils are carrying out more checks under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System.

However, the collection of financial penalties continues to lag.

Responsible landlords ‘clobbered’

The NRLA’s chief executive, Ben Beadle, said: “Whilst an increase in property inspections suggests more proactive enforcement, councils are failing to collect the money they should from those flouting their obligations.

“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 added: “This is not sustainable and undermines the confidence of those landlords who we want to keep in the market.”

£7.5m collected

The NRLA’s figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show inspections rising from 85,326 across 2021/22 and 2022/23 to 91,620 in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

While that’s a modest 7% increase, previously published data indicates councils are collecting only around a quarter of fines issued to landlords for housing offences.

Responses from 285 English councils show almost £30m in fines issued to private landlords between 2023/24 and 2024/25.

About £7.5m of that total has been collected.

Councils must publish reports

Meanwhile, the cross-party Housing Select Committee has raised concerns about how effectively councils are tackling non-compliance.

Its recent report calls for stronger oversight and clearer accountability around enforcement activity.

The committee also supported calls for councils to publish annual enforcement reports, setting out income from licensing and similar schemes and how that funding is used.

Mr Beadle said: “Councils must publish annual reports ensuring transparency about the money they receive from licensing and other such schemes, and how that it translates to better enforcement.

“By not taking this step, both tenants and good faith landlords seeking to do the right thing will continue to be let down by a failing system.”