Councils given power to penalise landlords for unenforceable tenancy clauses

Reply to the comment left by DavidM at 09/01/2026 – 12:21
That is exactly my point . How are we to know what is or isn’t enforceable without a list that we can refer to ? It’s nonsense for them to say the council have the powers to fine us for including what they term as unenforceable clauses unless we know in advance what clauses are not allowed. It’s just another government making things more complicated than is necessary and it’s designed to line the pockets of councils.

Reply to the comment left by Harry at 09/01/2026 – 12:36
Apparently the council don’t need a warrant to enter and they have more powers than the police who do need a warrant to enter. Councils don’t even need to tell the landlords in advance of a visit but need to give the tenants 24 hours notice. We need guidance to tell the tenants their legal rights in case the council send them ‘a compliance visit notice’ as a lot of tenants won’t have a clue what to do or say….just as landlords don’t at the moment.

PH
Erm you know what is not allowed by reading the guidance to RRA which has been published. Google ‘Renting out your property: guidance for landlords and letting agents’.
And many others have been publishing advice on what is now not allowed under RRA such as nrla
It’s impossible to list every possible clause that someone might draft that might be illegal because there isn’t anywhere a list of every possible clause.
Exactly the same as there’s not a list of clauses illegal under Tenancy Fees Act 2019 just guidance on what’s not allowed. There are relatively small number of cases where the property tribunal has then found that LLs charged fees illegally and have imposed fines. For most LLs it just became business as usual not to charge for certain things
Most LLs will get an AST drafted by a lawyer or use a standard one from nrla or openrent or from their letting agent and all those people will be updating their standard AST templates to be legal from 1 may. So this is only really an issue if you don’t familiarize yourself with Rra and you add your own clauses and don’t check.

Councils used to do this when managing their own council house portfolios. Private sector landlords are now required to be unpaid Council Housing Officers so this should come as no surprise. Once tenants have lifelong security and private sector landords have learnt to manage the new system the government will impose rent controls. It’s only a re-run of the Rent Act 1977 on steroids. Gone are the days when a dissatisfied tenant was expected to rent elsewhere. This is all about using private sector cash and the private sectors ability to raise mortgages to create the council estate of the future. Rent controls will deflate property values which existing landlords will have to accept or sell out at deflated prices to new landlords who’ll base their business plans on much lower capital costs.

Every landlord had better read the clauses, and more importantly understand them, in their Tenancy Agreements before 1st May 2026.

The government has given the green light to LA to print money.

The government has confirmed councils will be able to act (fine) against unenforceable clauses in tenancy agreements under the Renters’ Rights Act. BUT the Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook confirmed that such clauses will not be treated as criminal offences.

For those dithering about getting out of the PRS this might just tip the scales to serve your s21 asap.

What is an unenforceable clause is not written in statute but by the judiciary – who are, it seems, no longer independent of the Executive.

Labour are in effect saying “stuff the British Constitution”.

Reply to the comment left by Harry at 09/01/2026 – 12:36
Don’t be naive. In 2018 the government produced a paper on Powers of Entry citing around 900 separate powers of entry under primary and secondary legislation. It’ll be a lot more now.

Reply to the comment left by Dennis Forrest at 09/01/2026 – 11:43
I see the well known and already legally understood and accepted use of the description of tenants to use the property ‘in a tenant like manner’ will cover a number (of not all) claims where the direct action (or lack of action) by a tenant that has caused a deterioration issue in a property that can clearly be shown was NOT present at the start of the tenancy and is NOT down to any LL obligation.

In a response on another site.

Not sure which Local Authority is it but,

“at a local landlord meeting council had fined a landlord £15k ( 5k each property) under licensing scheme due to ‘ paperwork’. They meeting asked if people had a clause about anti social behaviour in the AST, of course we all did, but then asked if we used the local councils wording exactly. And that is what they fined someone over!”

Reply to the comment left by Harry at 09/01/2026 – 12:36
Harry

Generally Councils won’t know where eg tenancy application etc records are kept. (Tho the database of landlords might well have to have an official address just like ASTs have to have contacts to which tenants can serve notice)

So it’ll be rarely used. But where a letting agent or property mgt company manages the tenancy for the LL it’ll be known to the tenant so Council will easily find out.

Judith

What is unenforceable under RRA is all the things not allowed by RRA. It is written in statute it’s called the RRA. For which there is specific published guidance for landlords

So if from 1 May you try (whether in a contract clause or not) to require large advance payments or sign a tenancy agreement saying it is a 12month term, or don’t address serious hazard in a timely way while informing tenants of progress (Awaabs law), you know the Council can take enforcement action against you.

There is nothing new about the judiciary interpreting legislation and developing case law. This is exactly the same as all other legislation

This isn’t party political either – the version of RRA put forward by the previous Conservative govt worked in exactly the same way (Inc s21 abolition)