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Landlords in England face a crackdown on living standards as new powers kick in for councils.
From 22 June 2026, councils can fine landlords up to £7,000 to hold them accountable for serious property hazards.
If a rental portfolio contains properties with significant health and safety risks, the time for complacency has ended, says Housing Secretary Steve Reed.
However, the launch of the new fines and enforcement process comes at the same time as a freedom of information request reveals that, although councils issued penalty notices worth £29.7 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25, only £7.4 million was collected from offenders.
The data has left many landlords and politicians asking: what’s the point of issuing the fines if no one collects the money? Presumably, the uncollected millions would relieve some stress on council budgets.
The new fines are the latest in the rollout of the Renters' Rights Act.
Reed insists the measure is not a suggestion but an active enforcement tool intended to secure immediate repairs.
The penalty targets the most dangerous level of housing issues—classified as "Category 1" hazards.
These include, but are not limited to:
Government data estimates that approximately 10 percent of private rented homes currently contain at least one of these serious hazards. If your property falls into this category, you are now at high risk of facing these substantial fines.
Compounding the risk of these new fines is the overhaul of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). For the first time in two decades, this system—the primary tool councils use to assess health and safety in residential properties—has been updated.
Coming into force on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, this modernised framework is designed to be simpler and more effective. It streamlines the assessment process and consolidates hazards, reducing the list from 29 to 21 distinct categories.
By making these hazards easier to identify and score, the government aims to empower councils to take faster, more decisive action against non-compliant landlords.
The message from the government is clear: it is actively urging local councils to utilise every power at their disposal to tackle unsafe housing.
It is no longer enough to rely on informal agreements or slow-moving maintenance schedules. If a tenant reports a serious issue, ignoring it or delaying action could now lead to direct financial penalties that far exceed the cost of the repairs themselves.
Furthermore, with the broader reforms introduced by the Renters' Rights Act, including the abolition of section 21 evictions, tenants have greater security and are being encouraged to report substandard conditions to local authorities without fear of retaliatory eviction.