How much can a council fine a landlord in England in 2026? Up to £7,000 for a "breach" and up to £40,000 for an "offence", and for the first time the figure a council starts from is set nationally rather than invented locally. The table below is every starting point in the government's statutory guidance, followed by how councils move off it and how a fine stacks with a rent repayment order.
The source is Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation, statutory guidance published on 13 November 2025. Councils must have regard to it when setting their own penalty policies, and the new penalty regime has applied since 1 May 2026. It covers England only.
What is the difference between a breach and an offence?
A breach can only be dealt with by a civil penalty of up to £7,000; there is no option to prosecute. An offence can be prosecuted in the criminal courts or, as an alternative, punished with a civil penalty of up to £40,000. Most of the new Renters' Rights Act duties start life as breaches and become offences if you repeat them or carry on after being fined.
The full table of starting points
Breaches (maximum £7,000)
| Breach | Law | Starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Discrimination against people on benefits or with children | Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.33, s.34 | £6,000 |
| Attempting to end a tenancy with a notice to quit | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(b) | £6,000 |
| Attempting to end a tenancy orally | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(c) | £6,000 |
| Serving a possession notice outside the section 8 process | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(d) | £6,000 |
| Relying on a ground without reasonably believing it will succeed | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(e) | £6,000 |
| Attempting to let for a fixed term | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(a) | £4,000 |
| No written statement of terms within 28 days | Housing Act 1988 s.16D | £4,000 |
| Not giving existing tenants the prescribed information about the Act | RRA 2025 Sch. 6 para. 7 | £4,000 |
| Inviting, encouraging or accepting offers above the advertised rent | RRA 2025 s.56(3) | £4,000 |
| Not stating the proposed rent in an advert or offer | RRA 2025 s.56(2) | £3,000 |
| Not giving prior notice that a ground requiring it may be used | Housing Act 1988 s.16E(1)(f) | £3,000 |
Offences (maximum £40,000 or prosecution)
| Offence | Law | Starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Unlawful eviction or harassment | Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.1(2), (3) | £35,000 |
| Breach of a banning order | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.21(1) | £35,000 |
| Relying on a ground knowing it would fail, or recklessly | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(1) | £30,000 |
| Reletting or remarketing in the 12 months after using the moving or selling grounds | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(2) | £25,000 |
| Failing to comply with an improvement notice | Housing Act 2004 s.30(1) | £25,000 |
| Knowingly permitting over-occupation of an HMO | Housing Act 2004 s.72(2) | £20,000 |
| Failing to comply with an overcrowding notice | Housing Act 2004 s.139(7) | £20,000 |
| Unlicensed mandatory or additional-licensing HMO | Housing Act 2004 s.72(1) | £17,000 |
| Unlicensed property in a selective licensing area | Housing Act 2004 s.95(1) | £12,000 |
| Continuing breach, or repeat within 5 years, of the tenancy rules | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(3), (4) | Double the two breaches added together |
HMO management regulations (offences)
| Failure | Starting point |
|---|---|
| Failing to take safety measures | £20,000 |
| Failing to supply and maintain gas and electricity, or supply a gas safety certificate | £12,000 |
| Failing to maintain water supply and drainage | £10,000 |
| Failing to maintain common parts | £7,000 |
| Failing to maintain living accommodation | £7,000 |
| Failing to provide adequate waste disposal facilities | £7,000 |
| Failing to provide information to the occupier | £3,000 |
The "double" row needs unpicking. On our reading, a repeat of a £6,000 notice-to-quit breach adds the two breaches (£12,000) and doubles them, giving a £24,000 starting point, still inside the £40,000 cap.
How does a council get from the starting point to the final fine?
In four steps, and only the first is fixed nationally.
- Starting point. The figure from the table, set by seriousness.
- Aggravating and mitigating factors. The council decides how much weight each gets. The guidance lists the kind of thing that counts: how many properties you own, previous non-compliance, whether you admitted it, how fast you put it right, how vulnerable the tenants are and whether the risk actually materialised. A portfolio landlord is expected to know the rules, so "I didn't know" plays worse with every extra property.
- Local rent adjustment. A council in a cheap or expensive rental area can adjust its figures, but by no more than the percentage its rents sit above or below the national average.
- Totality. Where several penalties land at once and the total is out of proportion, the council should consider scaling them all down.
Councils can offer a discount for prompt payment, but it must not exceed one third of the final notice amount. You can appeal a final notice to the First-tier Tribunal.
Which fines only need the civil standard of proof?
Discrimination and rental bidding. For those, the council only has to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities. For everything else in the table, it must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, and should only act where a prosecution would have a realistic prospect of conviction. That is why a "No DSS" advert or accepting a bid above the asking rent is far easier for a council to penalise than, say, a disputed possession notice. Our guide to rent in advance and the bidding ban covers the advertising rules.
Can I be fined more than once for the same thing?
Yes. For a missing written statement, the prescribed information or discrimination, a further penalty can be imposed if the breach continues more than 28 days after the first. For the core tenancy rules, a breach that continues past 28 days, or is repeated within five years, becomes an offence with a £40,000 ceiling. A banning order breach that continues for more than six months can attract a further penalty.
How do civil penalties and rent repayment orders stack?
Fully. A council fine and a rent repayment order are separate, and the guidance tells councils to disregard any rent repayment order when judging whether their penalty is proportionate. Worse, the fine drives the size of the order.
Under section 46 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, as amended from 1 May 2026, if you have received a civil penalty for the offence and the appeal window has closed, the tribunal must order the maximum repayment, ignoring your conduct and finances, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The same applies if you have been fined for, convicted of, or had an order for the same offence before, and unlicensed HMO and unlicensed selective licensing count as the same offence for that purpose. For offences from 1 May 2026 the maximum is up to two years' rent.
Rent repayment orders attach to offences, not breaches. A discrimination penalty does not open the door to one; an unlicensed let, an illegal eviction or reletting after Ground 1A does.
A worked example: one unlicensed flat in a three-flat portfolio
Priya owns three flats. Two are fine. The third sits in a selective licensing area she never checked, let at £1,250 a month. Suppose the council discovers it after 16 months of letting that began on 1 June 2026.
- Civil penalty. Starting point £12,000. The council treats her portfolio as mildly aggravating and her immediate licence application as mitigating, and lands on £12,000. It offers a 20% prompt payment discount, so she pays £9,600 and does not appeal.
- Rent repayment order. The tenant applies. Because Priya accepted the penalty, the tribunal must order the maximum: all rent paid during the offence period, capped at 24 months. That is 16 × £1,250 = £20,000.
- The licence itself. Still payable. At a London-style fee of around £1,000 for five years, call it £1,000.
Total: £30,600, against a licence that would have cost about £200 a year. Accepting the fine without appeal is what locked in the maximum repayment, which is why the decision to pay or appeal deserves proper advice. Check every address with do I need a landlord licence before you let.
What is not in the table?
Several regimes set their own figures and are not covered by this guidance:
- Right to Rent. Set by the Home Office: £5,000 per lodger or £10,000 per occupier for a first breach, £10,000 or £20,000 for a repeat, all per person.
- Safety and energy rules. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, electrical safety and minimum energy efficiency each carry their own penalty maximums.
- The PRS database and landlord ombudsman. The Renters' Rights Act already sets the ceilings, £7,000 for a breach and £40,000 for an offence, but neither scheme was live as of 2 September 2026 and no starting points have been published for them.
Does this apply in Wales or Scotland?
No. The starting points apply to councils in England. Wales and Scotland run their own landlord registration and enforcement regimes with different penalties.
What to do with this
Most of the big numbers above come from four avoidable mistakes: an unlicensed property, a bad possession notice, a missing written statement and reletting too soon after Ground 1A. Check every property's licensing status in writing, serve possession notices only on a section 8 ground you can prove, and keep the dates that trigger penalties in one place with the free compliance deadline checker.
This is general information as at September 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice. Councils set their final penalties under their own published policies, so check yours and take advice before responding to a notice.
