SafetyUK
Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) failure
Maximum penalty
Unlimited fine + up to 2 years’ imprisonment
Letting with no annual CP12 or failing to serve it on tenant
- Legislation:
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
Reference dataset · 2026
UK landlord fines database 2026
Every headline UK landlord civil or criminal penalty active in 2026, in one searchable place. Each entry links to the primary GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk or HSE source so you can verify the current figure before you rely on it.
The dataset
- Penalties catalogued
- 23
- Penalties cataloguedGas, deposits, RtR, MEES, HMO & more
- Primary sources
- 21
- Primary sourcesGOV.UK, HSE, legislation.gov.uk
- Last reviewed
- Figures checked against regulators
Showing 23 of 23 penalties
SafetyEngland
EICR failure (electrical safety)
Maximum penalty
Up to £40,000
No valid EICR within last 5 years, or unremedied C1/C2 codes
- Legislation:
- Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
SafetyEngland
Smoke or CO alarm breach
Maximum penalty
Up to £5,000
Missing smoke alarm on a storey, or CO alarm where gas/solid-fuel appliance exists
- Legislation:
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 (as amended 2022)
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
SafetyEngland
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act breach
Maximum penalty
Unlimited damages + specific performance order
Letting or continuing to let unfit housing
- Legislation:
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
SafetyEngland
Awaab’s Law breach (social landlords; PRS extension not yet in force)
Maximum penalty
Civil penalty + liability under Fitness for Habitation Act
Failing to investigate / remedy prescribed hazards within statutory timescales. Social landlords only for now; a private landlord’s exposure on the same facts runs through Section 11, the Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018 and HHSRS instead.
- Legislation:
- Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, in force for social landlords 27 October 2025. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 carries the power to extend it to the PRS; those regulations have not been made.
DepositEngland
Unprotected tenancy deposit
Maximum penalty
1x to 3x the deposit, payable to tenant
Deposit not in DPS / MyDeposits / TDS within 30 days
- Legislation:
- Housing Act 2004, ss.213–215
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
DepositEngland
Missing Prescribed Information
Maximum penalty
1x to 3x deposit; no Section 8 possession order on any ground except 7A and 14 until it is served (late still counts) or the deposit returned
Prescribed information not served within 30 days of deposit
- Legislation:
- Housing Act 2004, s.213(5)–6
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Right to RentEngland
Right to Rent failure (per adult)
Maximum penalty
Up to £10,000 per occupier (first breach) / £20,000 (repeat) + up to 5 years’ imprisonment
Letting to adult without a prescribed right-to-rent check
- Legislation:
- Immigration Act 2014 & 2016 (as amended; 2024 penalty uplift)
Energy (EPC / MEES)England
MEES breach (letting below Band E)
Maximum penalty
Up to £5,000 per breach today; the government plans £30,000 once new legislation is passed
New or continued let of a property with EPC Band F or G without exemption
- Legislation:
- Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Energy (EPC / MEES)England
Letting without a valid EPC
Maximum penalty
£200 penalty notice per breach (dwellings)
Marketing or letting a property with no valid Energy Performance Certificate
- Legislation:
- Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Licensing & HMOEngland
Unlicensed mandatory HMO
Maximum penalty
Unlimited fine, or civil penalty up to £40,000, + Rent Repayment Order up to 2 years (offences from 1 May 2026)
Letting an HMO with 5+ occupants / 2+ households with no mandatory licence
- Legislation:
- Housing Act 2004, Part 2
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Licensing & HMOEngland
Unlicensed let in a selective-licensing area
Maximum penalty
Up to £40,000 civil penalty or unlimited fine on conviction + RRO
Letting any residential unit in a designated area without the selective licence
- Legislation:
- Housing Act 2004, Part 3
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Renters’ Rights ActEngland
RRA Information Sheet non-service
Maximum penalty
£7,000 civil penalty (initial), up to £40,000 (serious or repeat) + unlimited criminal fine for false information
Failing to give the RRA Information Sheet by 31 May 2026 to tenants whose tenancy was already running on 1 May 2026 (new tenancies get a written statement of terms instead)
- Legislation:
- Renters’ Rights Act 2025
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Renters’ Rights ActEngland
Private Rented Sector Database non-registration
Maximum penalty
Up to £7,000, or up to £40,000 where the breach is an offence (false information, carrying on after a penalty, a repeat within five years) + blocks a possession order
Letting a property that is not registered (with yourself as landlord) on the PRS Database after your region’s deadline, between 14 March and 14 November 2027
- Legislation:
- Renters’ Rights Act 2025
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Renters’ Rights ActEngland
Not a member of the Landlord Ombudsman
Maximum penalty
Up to £7,000 (first breach), up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution (serious/repeat)
Letting a property without joining the mandatory PRS Landlord Ombudsman once the scheme is live (staged from 2026)
- Legislation:
- Renters’ Rights Act 2025
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Licensing & HMOEngland
Letting agent with no Client Money Protection
Maximum penalty
Up to £30,000
A letting or managing agent holding client money without belonging to an approved CMP scheme
- Legislation:
- Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Renters’ Rights ActEngland
Decent Homes Standard breach (PRS)
Maximum penalty
Civil penalty £7,000 (initial / minor) up to £40,000 (serious or repeat); unlimited fine on criminal prosecution
Letting a property that fails the Decent Homes Standard once the PRS extension commences (staged, expected during the RRA 2025 phase-in)
- Legislation:
- Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (extends Decent Homes Standard to the PRS)
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Renters’ Rights ActEngland
Section 8 Ground 1A re-letting within 12 months
Maximum penalty
Up to £7,000 civil penalty
Re-letting a property within 12 months after possession obtained on Ground 1A (landlord moving in) or 1B (selling)
- Legislation:
- Housing Act 1988, Schedule 2 (as amended by RRA 2025)
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Tenancy & EvictionEngland
Prohibited tenant fee or double-counting
Maximum penalty
£5,000 first offence, £30,000 or criminal prosecution on repeat
Charging any fee not permitted under the Tenant Fees Act 2019
- Legislation:
- Tenant Fees Act 2019
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Tenancy & EvictionUK
Illegal eviction / harassment
Maximum penalty
Up to 2 years’ imprisonment + unlimited fine + civil damages (often £20,000+)
Changing locks, cutting utilities, removing belongings, or harassing to encourage tenant to leave
- Legislation:
- Protection from Eviction Act 1977
Tax & HMRCUK
Late MTD ITSA quarterly submission
Maximum penalty
£200 per late submission after 4 penalty points accumulated
Quarterly update submitted after the 7th of the month following quarter-end
- Legislation:
- Finance Act 2021 Sch.24 (new points-based regime)
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
Tax & HMRCUK
Late Self Assessment filing
Maximum penalty
£100 initial + daily £10 (max £900) + 5% or £300 at 6 & 12 months
Self Assessment filed after 31 January deadline
- Legislation:
- Taxes Management Act 1970
Data protectionUK
UK GDPR / Data Protection Act breach
Maximum penalty
Up to £17.5m or 4% of annual turnover
Processing tenant personal data without lawful basis or inadequate security
- Legislation:
- UK GDPR + Data Protection Act 2018
- Strict liability:
- intent not required
What is actually enforced
The penalties above, as the official figures show them used
The database gives the most the law allows. These are the counts of penalties actually issued, ordered or prosecuted, counted by LetCompliance on 6 October 2026 from the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the First-tier Tribunal’s published decisions.
Right to Rent civil penalties
£3.42m
issued in 2024, against £151,480 in 2023, after the amounts rose on 13 February 2024
| Year | Penalties | Value issued |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 155 | £151,480 |
| 2024 | 366 | £3,421,800 |
| 2025 | 254 | £2,795,000 |
| 2026, January to June | 108 | £1,285,000 |
Home Office, Immigration Enforcement transparency data Q2 2026, table CP_03; values as issued, before any objection or appeal. Every quarter since 2016
Rent repayment orders
£1.50m
ordered repaid by the tribunal in 2025, in the 171 orders where the amount could be read; a median of £6,141 an order
- An order was made in 72% of the applications decided from January 2025 (265 of 369).
- 93% of orders rested on licensing: an unlicensed HMO (178), a house in a selective licensing area (60), or both (8).
- London had 85% of the money ordered in 2025; its median order was £8,908, against £2,819 elsewhere.
- Claims based on illegal eviction or harassment led to an order in 7 of 34.
Residential property tribunal decisions on GOV.UK, all 376 decided 1 January 2025 to 6 October 2026, read one by one; amounts as ordered, not as paid. The full count
Housing Act 2004 prosecutions
166
prosecutions in England in the year to March 2026, down 84% from 1,067 in the year to March 2017
For HMO and licensing offences alone, 74 against 617. The fall began when councils were given the power to impose a financial penalty instead of prosecuting, from 6 April 2017; how many penalties councils issue is not counted in these figures.
Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: March 2026, outcomes by offence, codes 19638, 19639 and 19687; each defendant counted once, under the most serious offence.
Illegal eviction and harassment
29
people prosecuted in England and Wales in the year to March 2026 under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, and 21 convicted, against 68 prosecuted in the year to March 2017
In the same year 51 people were prosecuted for squatting in a residential building, nearly double the year before, 31 of them in London.
Ministry of Justice, outcomes by offence, codes 08701 to 08703 and 19561 (eviction and harassment) and 12586 (squatting). Ten years of figures
Free tools to avoid these fines
Most of these penalties come down to a missed deadline, an un-held licence or a skipped check. Run the ones that apply to your portfolio: no login, in your browser.
- Certificate renewalsThree certificates, three different cycles, one missed date is non-compliance. Get the next-due date for Gas Safety, EICR and EPC in one screen, then never track them by hand again.
- Deposit penaltyA late deposit protection isn’t a slap on the wrist: the court must award the tenant between one and three times the deposit. See the range before they file.
- HMO licence checkerOperating an unlicensed HMO is a criminal offence with a Rent Repayment Order risk of up to two years' rent. Check in seconds whether mandatory, additional or selective licensing applies.
- Right to Rent checkGet the Right to Rent check method and the follow-up date right for every adult occupier. A missed follow-up loses your statutory excuse, this wizard pins the date.
- MEES 2030 checkerBand E lets you let today; band C is coming by 2030. Check where your EPC sits against both the current minimum and the proposed target in one screen.
- Tenant fees checkerCharge one banned fee and you risk a £5,000 penalty and a repayment obligation. Check any charge against the Tenant Fees Act 2019 permitted-payments list in seconds.
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Free to cite in news, research and blog coverage under CC BY 4.0 . Please link back to https://letcompliance.com/landlord-fines-database and verify each figure against the linked primary source before publication. Editorial policy: letcompliance.com/editorial-policy.
