Government signals enforcement may be funded via PRS Database fees

Once again the attack on landlords who DO comply with the legislation.
Now we are going to pay into the National Database to provide funds to the local councils for enforcement against the landlords who are registered on the database.
The scumlords who don’t register are not the ones being enforced are they?
The tenants in the scumlords houses won’t report them to the councils as they are on the take too???
I am waiting to see how much , per year, we will be shafted this time…plus how much it will cost to be on the Landlords Database ( read Tenants Database) THEN my tenants will get the costs added to their rent.
I have tried to keep the rent below the actual rent for my long termers but not anymore..
Sold off another three properties…not many to go now, then I am gone.

Reply to the comment left by Imout Ofhere at 30/06/2026 – 09:01
I suspect it will be a lot of money to register and a charge for every property you own, even £1 per property is too much.Nothing “fair ” about it as Pennycock suggests.He has already pumped in £59.32 million from “His department” or in other words tax payer funded, money that could have been put to better use elsewhere, like paying back the National debt. He says they have “ring fenced ” these fines but what exactly will they spend this money on I ask?
Nobody in authority has challenged them on the delicate matter of data protection!

I am sure we were promised a nominal fee for registration.

The government’s plan to use landlords’ money to fund new local authority inspection and fining powers will only entrench division and suspicion, undermining the very cooperation urgently needed between the two sides. Local authorities desperately need the Private Rented Sector (PRS) as a cheaper, alternative source of housing for the hundreds of thousands of families on waiting lists—yet this policy punishes the whole sector rather than encouraging it to step up.

Resorting to punishment over reward echoes Victorian-era political control, a tactic that has historically proved divisive and counterproductive. In ten years, we will look back on this decision in exactly those terms. There is simply no better way to work with an industry than to be honest, upfront, and reward those who perform well; blanket punishment of an entire sector has no place in today’s society. The government’s wider strategy—across the PRS, new homebuilding, and attracting multinational investment—is already showing clear signs of failure.

Ironically, since 1980, both Conservative and Labour governments have sold off over two million council homes and are still doing so. Right to Buy has generated approximately £51–60 billion in nominal capital receipts for the UK public sector—yet only 25% has been recycled back into housing, with the bulk enriching central government finances. As a surveyor who conducted Right to Buy valuations in central London, I watched tenants buy and promptly resell for a 30% + profit, and I concluded decades ago that this was a selfish policy that would come back to haunt its architects. Had this strategy never been implemented, we would not be facing today’s housing crisis. Instead, hundreds of thousands of families are left without stable homes, while successive governments conveniently point the finger at the PRS.

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 10:53
And now that feel will be more than nominal.
Classic bait and switch from politicians.
Slow salami as slicing you into oblivion.
why can’t they fund enforcement from fines. They are big enough. Unless there isn’t as much rule breaking as they say.

Mr Pennycook states he is supporting the principle of “the polluter pays”. So when tenants “cause” mould due to lack of ventilation / lack of heating why will the landlord be fined ?

Reply to the comment left by Imout Ofhere at 30/06/2026 – 09:01
Ref ‘tenant data base’. You have hit the nail on the head. its the ultimate own goal.

Reply to the comment left by Imout Ofhere at 09:01
It really is a shame you are forced to sell. Like most landlords I am sure you have spent a lot of money and time with your BTL projects, stamp duty to the greedy government, lawyer’s fees, renovation costs, out of pocket repair costs etc just to end up having to dump property quickly, not necessarily when you would like to and maximise your profits and especially if you had good tenants who will also lose out.This and the previous government have a lot to answer for.

Reply to the comment left by David at 30/06/2026 – 20:05
That is the irony. Hit the greedy landlords is what you would expect from an elite but socialist government, but renters rights was started by the conservatives. No doubt Labour will remind us of that once the policy fails