Councils are failing to properly punish rogue landlords, with research showing £22.5m of fines have not been collected from guilty parties.
The NRLA found out that between 2023/24 and 2024/25, English councils issued £30m in civil penalties against private landlords for housing offences.
According to Freedom of Information Requests, only £7.5m — or just over a quarter of the total fines — was successfully collected by councils.
Almost 3,700 civil penalties were issued to landlords over the same period.
The NRLA is using this research to urge the government to better support councils’ ability to enforce housing offences, with the Renters Rights Act due to come into effect from May.
The Renters Rights Act will increase councils’ civil penalties from £7,000 to a maximum £40,000.
In addition to increased funding for enforcement, the NRLA wants the government to establish a Chief Environmental Health Officer post with a national remit.
The NRLA is also urging the government to undertake a full assessment of the resources local authority enforcement teams currently have, and will need, to enforce the Renters’ Rights Act.
“For too long a minority of rogue and criminal operators have been allowed to act with impunity, bringing the sector into disrepute,” said Ben Beadle, CEO at the NRLA.
“It is galling then to see that those breaking the law are still failing to pay the price — leaving good landlords to pick up the tab on licensing fees.
“This also raises serious questions about how ready councils are to enforce the Renters’ Rights Act, and about the adequacy of the upfront funding provided to them to support enforcement action.”
