Enforcing standards in rented housing

What to do about problems in your rented home

If you rent your home privately and have a problem with the property, your landlord or your letting agent, we may be able to help. We can investigate issues that affect your health, safety or wellbeing.

We do not investigate complaints about social housing. If you live in social housing, you should complain to your landlord first. If you're not happy with their response, the Housing Hub website (opens in new tab) explains what to do next. 

Landlords must keep their properties safe and in good condition. If they do not meet their legal responsibilities, we can take action to make sure they put things right.

Tell us about a problem

To help us investigate, please:

• tell your landlord about the problem first
• provide your landlord's contact details
• give us any information or evidence we ask for
• allow access for inspections and repairs

Contact us about problems with your rented property, landlord or agent.

How we investigate

When you report a problem, we’ll review the information you provide. If needed, we will inspect the property. 

We use the Housing Health and Safety Hazard Rating System (HHSRS). This is the basis for tackling the worst housing conditions.

When deciding what action to take, we consider:

• the risk to tenants and the public
• what legal sanctions are available
• whether the landlord is willing to fix the problems
• how long the issue has been going on
• how well everyone involved is co-operating

What action we can take

If there are hazards in a property that are a danger to health, we may use our powers to reduce this. If these hazards represent a serious danger, we have a duty to take action.

We may:

• provide advice and guidance to the landlord
• serve legal notices, including:
  • a hazard awareness notice (to advise landlords what they should do to improve their property)
  • an improvement notice (instruction for the landlord to carry out repairs within a set time)
  • a prohibition order / emergency prohibition order (to stop a property from being occupied until it’s safe)
  • a demolition order / clearance order
• arrange emergency work to fix a problem (works we can do if the landlord doesn’t carry out the required improvements)

What landlords can expect

We work with landlords to improve housing conditions wherever possible. 

The Housing Act 2004 and Housing and Planning Act 2016 gives us powers to deal with rogue landlords. If a landlord does not comply with legal requirements, we may take enforcement action, such as:

• issuing the landlord with a civil penalty notice (CPN) of up to £7,000 per breach and £40,000 per offence
• prosecuting the landlord in court which can result in an unlimited fine and a criminal conviction

We also have the authority to issue CPNs fines or prosecute landlords/agents without serving any legal notices.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 also includes:

• banning orders, which prevent landlords or agents from letting properties
• a national database of rogue landlords and agents

Housing standards policies

We follow our Housing Standards Enforcement Policy when deciding whether to take enforcement action. The policy explains the rules we follow and the legal powers we can use.

If we are considering a fine for a landlord, letting agent or property manager, we follow our Housing Standards Civil Penalty Policy.