New government powers to fine landlords up to £7,000 for failing to address poor conditions will achieve little unless councils improve their record on actually collecting those penalties, the National Residential Landlords Association has warned.
The response comes after the government confirmed councils will be able to issue fines of up to £7,000 on landlords who refuse to rectify poor conditions in rented homes, alongside planned updates to the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System.
The same fine applies, per tenancy, to landlords who failed to provide tenants with the government's official Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by the 31 May 2026 deadline, with breaches that continue beyond 28 days potentially escalating to £40,000.
"The overwhelming majority of landlords provide good quality and safe housing," said Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA. "That will be made easier thanks to the Government's work with the NRLA to improve guidance for landlords and tenants to identify and swiftly rectify hazards in properties."
Beadle acknowledged that responsible landlords had little to fear from the tougher regime. "Good landlords, who meet standards and undertake repairs swiftly, will be unaffected by these tough penalties. But those criminal landlords, who undermine the reputation of all those who do the right thing, will feel the full force of the law."
However, he argued that raising fine levels sidesteps a more fundamental problem. "Increasing fines though, misses the point," he said, "namely that councils are not using their extensive and existing powers effectively to tackle rogue and criminal landlords."
The NRLA's own Freedom of Information requests found that between 2023 and 2025, just a quarter of all fines issued to private landlords were actually collected by councils, raising serious questions about landlord fines enforcement capacity across local government.
Concerns about awareness compound the picture. The information sheet requirement, introduced alongside the Act's main provisions on 1 May 2026, caught some landlords off guard. The document must be downloaded from the government's website as an exact PDF and provided individually to every named tenant, either as a hard copy or email attachment.
Sending a link rather than the document itself does not count as valid service. Where a letting agent manages a property, the agent must also provide the sheet, even if the landlord has already done so. Some landlords have suggested the obligation was not widely enough publicised, raising the prospect of well-meaning landlords falling foul of a technicality.
"If the Government's plans are to work, councils need the resources to do the job properly and these figures show that so many do not," Beadle added. "The Government should properly assess enforcement capacity and require councils to publish annual reports on activity to ensure accountability."
The NRLA is also calling for a structural solution at national level. "Crucially, this should all be underpinned by the introduction of a new national Chief Environmental Health Officer, empowered to lead the charge for better enforcement across government," he said.
Beyond enforcement, Beadle pressed ministers to consider the supply side of the rental market. "Alongside this, ministers need to develop pro-growth policies to support responsible landlords to provide the new, good quality homes to rent that so many tenants desperately need."
The calls come against a broader backdrop of toughening regulation in the private rented sector. Under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, local authorities can impose civil penalties of up to £40,000 for the most serious offences, with the government committing £41.12m in additional enforcement funding for councils in April 2026. Whether that funding translates into meaningful action remains, according to the NRLA, the central question.
