Private Sector Housing Civil Financial Penalty Policy

Maximum Court fine that can be levied for failure to comply with a Banning Order following prosecution - Unlimited. In addition, the Court can also impose a prison sentence for up to 51 weeks.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 includes provisions and processes for a person to be banned from being involved, for a specified period, in one or more of the following activities:

• letting housing,
• engaging in letting agency work,
• engaging in property management work

Banning Orders are reserved for what are recognised as being the most serious housing-related offences. In the event that the Council was satisfied that the offence of breaching a Banning Order had occurred, this would normally be the subject of prosecution proceedings. Where it was determined that a civil penalty would be appropriate in respect of a breach of a Banning Order, this would normally be set at the maximum level of £30,000 to reflect the severity of the offence.