Private Sector Housing Civil Financial Penalty Policy

Section 126 and Schedule 9 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 provide local authorities with the power, through the insertion of section 249A Housing Act 2004, to impose a civil penalty as an alternative to prosecution in respect of the following offences under the Housing Act 2004:

• failure to comply with an Improvement Notice [section 30]
• offences in relation to licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) under Part 2 [section 72]
• offences in relation to the Selective Licensing of 'houses' under Part 3 [section 95]
• failure to comply with an Overcrowding Notice [section 139]
• failure to comply with a management regulation in respect of an HMO [section 234]

Regulation 11 of The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 provides local authorities with the power to impose a civil penalty in respect of breaches of Regulation 3 of The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020.

In addition, section 23 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 provides that a civil penalty may be imposed in respect of a breach of a Banning Order.

The Council has the power to impose a civil penalty of up to a maximum of £30,000 for each separate offence. If multiple offenders have committed the same offence at the same property, a separate civil penalty can, and usually will, be imposed on each offender. In each case, the level of civil penalty imposed on each offender will be in line with this policy.

Statutory Guidance

The Government has issued statutory guidance under Schedule 9 of the Housing & Planning Act 2016 entitled "Civil penalties under the Housing and Planning Act 2016. Guidance for Local Housing Authorities". The Council has regard to this guidance in the exercise of their functions in respect of civil penalties.

Paragraph 3.5 of the statutory guidance states that 'The actual amount levied in any particular case should reflect the severity of the offence, as well as taking account of the landlord's previous record of offending'. The same paragraph sets out several factors that should be considered to ensure that the civil penalty is set at an appropriate level in each case:

• severity of the offence.The more serious the offence, the higher the penalty should be.
• culpability and track record of the offender. A higher penalty will be appropriate where the offender has a history of failing to comply with their obligations and, or their actions were deliberate and, or they knew, or ought to have known, that they were in breach of their legal responsibilities. Landlords are running a business and should be expected to be aware of their legal obligations.
• the harm caused to the tenant.This is a very important factor when determining the level of penalty. The greater the harm or the potential for harm (this may be as perceived by the tenant), the higher the amount should be when imposing a civil penalty.
• punishment of the offender. A civil penalty should not be regarded as an easy or lesser option compared to prosecution. While the penalty should be proportionate and reflect both the severity of the offence and whether there is a pattern of previous offending, it is important that it is set at a high enough level to help ensure that it has a real economic impact on the offender and demonstrate the consequences of not complying with their responsibilities.
• deter the offender from repeating the offence.The goal is to prevent any further offending and help ensure that the landlord fully complies with all their legal responsibilities in future. The level of the penalty should therefore be set at a high enough level such that it is likely to deter the offender from repeating the offence.
• deter others from committing similar offences. While the fact that someone has received a civil penalty will not be in the public domain, it is possible that other landlords in the local area will become aware through informal channels when someone has received a civil penalty. An important part of deterrence is the realisation that (a) the local authority is proactive in levying civil penalties where the need to do so exists and (b) that the level of civil penalty will be set at a high enough level to both punish the offender and deter repeat offending.
• remove any financial benefit the offender may have obtained because of committing the offence.The guiding principle here should be to ensure that the offender does not benefit because of committing an offence, i.e. it should not be cheaper to offend than to ensure a property is well maintained and properly managed.

The factors detailed in the statutory guidance and policy aims will be considered by the Council when deciding where, within the Civil Penalties matrix below, a particular offence and penalty fall.