Renters' Rights Act Fines: What London Landlords Can Be Penalised For

Renters' Rights Act fines are the financial penalties that local authorities can now impose on landlords who fall foul of the rules that took effect on 1 May 2026. The figure most landlords have heard is £40,000, but that is the ceiling for the most serious cases, not a flat rate, and the system is deliberately tiered. This guide explains exactly what you can be fined for under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, how much each kind of failure can cost, who hands out the penalties, how a civil penalty differs from a criminal prosecution, what tenants can claim on top, and the practical steps that keep you on the right side of the line.

Renters' Rights Act fines: the short answer

Renters' Rights Act fines operate on two levels. A less serious failure, what the legislation calls a breach, can attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000, with no option for the council to prosecute. A serious, deliberate, repeated or continuing failure, an offence, can attract a civil penalty of up to £40,000, or the local authority can choose to prosecute through the courts instead. The distinction decides both the size of the penalty and the process that follows, and almost every duty the Act creates sits somewhere on that scale.

In Short

The penalty structure at a glance

• A "breach" carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000, with no prosecution option.
• An "offence" carries up to £40,000, or criminal prosecution instead.
• Penalties escalate: an unaddressed breach can become an offence.
• Fines apply per failure, so several breaches can stack up.
• Most duties have applied since 1 May 2026; database and ombudsman penalties follow later.

What landlords can be fined for under the Renters' Rights Act

The Act did not invent one new fine. It attached penalties to a whole set of new duties. These are the failures most likely to land a London landlord with a bill, grouped by the duty they breach.

• Written terms and the information sheet. Before a new tenancy starts, you must give the tenant their terms in writing along with the government's Renters' Rights Act information sheet. For tenancies that began before 1 May 2026 you did not need a new agreement, but you did need to give existing tenants written notice of the changes by 31 May 2026. Missing this is a breach; carrying on after a penalty escalates it to an offence.
• Discrimination against families or benefit claimants. It is now unlawful to refuse a tenancy because the applicant has children or receives benefits, and any clause that bans them is void. Discriminatory conduct is a breach attracting up to £7,000, rising if it continues.
• Rental bidding. You must advertise a fixed asking rent and cannot invite or accept offers above it. Encouraging a bidding war is a breach.
• Excess rent in advance. You cannot require more than one month's rent before the tenancy begins. Demanding several months up front to sidestep referencing is a breach.
• Serving a Section 21 notice. No-fault evictions were abolished on 1 May 2026. A Section 21 notice served on an assured tenancy after that date is invalid, and pursuing possession on that basis is grounds for enforcement.
• Illegal eviction and harassment. Locking a tenant out, removing belongings, or harassing them into leaving is an offence. For the first time, councils can issue a civil penalty for this as an alternative to prosecution.
• Deposit failures. Deposit protection under the Housing Act 2004 now applies across all assured tenancies. Failing to protect or to serve prescribed information can block a possession claim as well as exposing you to penalty.
• Improper rent increases. Rent can only be raised once a year using the correct Section 13 procedure, and tenants can challenge an above-market increase at the tribunal.

How much are the fines? The £7,000 and £40,000 tiers

The two figures do most of the work, so it is worth being precise about each.

Up to £7,000, the breach tier. This is the ceiling for non-compliance the council can only deal with by civil penalty. There is no prosecution route for a breach. The council issues a civil penalty notice, you can make representations, and you can appeal to a tribunal, but a breach never becomes a criminal matter on its own.

Up to £40,000, the offence tier. For an offence the council has a choice: impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000, or prosecute in the criminal courts. Serious, deliberate or repeated conduct sits here, and so does a breach that you fail to put right after being penalised, the same conduct can be re-characterised as an offence if it continues.

Two points catch landlords out. First, the ceilings are per failure: a landlord who breaches several duties at once can receive several penalties, and they are not capped at a single £40,000. Second, councils set the actual amount within the ceiling using their own published civil penalty policy, weighing the severity, your culpability, your track record, and the need to deter, so a first, minor slip will rarely sit at the top of the band, but a repeat offender can. The definitive breakdown of which failures count as breaches and which as offences is set out in the government's guidance on civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Civil penalty or criminal prosecution: how they differ

For offences, the two routes lead to very different places, and the council picks one. It cannot pursue both for the same offence.

A civil penalty is decided by the local authority itself. It must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offence was committed, but it does not go to a criminal court, there is no criminal record, and the process is faster. You can appeal the penalty to the First-tier Tribunal. A criminal prosecution goes through the courts, can result in an unlimited fine and a criminal conviction, and carries the heavier long-term consequence, a conviction is what underpins a banning order and inclusion on the rogue landlord database. Imprisonment is reserved for the gravest cases, such as a violent illegal eviction. For breaches at the £7,000 tier, this choice does not arise: there is no prosecution option, only the civil penalty.

Who enforces Renters' Rights Act fines

Renters' Rights Act fines are enforced primarily by local housing authorities, your borough council. They investigate complaints, gather evidence, issue civil penalty notices, and decide whether an offence warrants prosecution instead. Crucially, councils keep the penalty income to fund further enforcement, which gives them a direct incentive to pursue non-compliant landlords rather than let breaches slide.

Appeals and tenant claims are handled by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which hears challenges to civil penalties and decides rent repayment orders. Above the individual case sits the database of rogue landlords and property agents, where repeat offenders can be recorded. The full enforcement framework is set out in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on legislation.gov.uk.

Tenant remedies: rent repayment and banning orders

The council's fine is not the only financial exposure. Two further mechanisms can cost far more than the headline penalty, and they can apply on top of it.

• Rent repayment orders. Where a landlord has committed certain offences, the tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring rent to be repaid. The Act extended these orders to a longer list of offences and doubled the maximum to up to two years' rent. On a typical London rent, that can dwarf a civil penalty, and it stacks on top of one.
• Banning orders. For serious or repeated offending, a banning order can prohibit a landlord from letting property at all for a set period. A landlord or agent who receives two or more civil penalties within twelve months, for offences where a banning order can be sought, can also be entered on the rogue landlord and agent database.

The lesson is that a single serious failure rarely costs one number. An illegal eviction, for instance, could mean a £40,000 civil penalty and a rent repayment order of up to two years' rent and a place on the database, the kind of compound exposure that makes prevention overwhelmingly cheaper than the fine.

What's still coming: the PRS Database and Landlord Ombudsman

Not every penalty under the Act is live yet. Two major duties, and their fines, arrive as the supporting systems launch.

The private rented sector database will require landlords to register themselves, their properties, and their compliance information, rolling out in phases from late 2026. Failing to register will be a breach at the £7,000 tier, while knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information to the database is an offence carrying up to £40,000. The mandatory Landlord Ombudsman scheme, expected from 2028, will require almost all private landlords to join and to comply with its decisions, again backed by penalties for those who do not.

The practical point is that the enforcement surface keeps widening. What feels optional now becomes mandatory and monitored, and a missing registration or a lapsed certificate becomes far easier for a council to spot. Keeping renewal dates and obligations in one place, a simple compliance calendar, is the cheapest defence there is.

How to avoid Renters' Rights Act fines

Almost every penalty above is avoidable with routine process rather than legal firefighting. The landlords who never get caught out do these things as a matter of course:

• Serve compliant paperwork every time. Issue written terms and the information sheet at the start of each new tenancy, and give existing tenants the required notice of changes.
• Price and take money correctly. Advertise a fixed rent, never invite bids, and never take more than one month's rent in advance.
• Apply terms equally. Drop any blanket bans on children or benefit claimants and assess every applicant on the same criteria.
• Use the right routes for possession and rent rises. Section 8 grounds for possession, Section 13 for an annual increase, no Section 21, no informal hikes. All of this now operates within the new periodic tenancy framework that replaced fixed-term ASTs on 1 May 2026.
• Keep every safety certificate current. A lapsed EICR, gas or EPC certificate is its own breach and weakens any possession claim, so track expiry dates closely, our guide to how long an EICR lasts explains why there is no grace period to rely on.
• Register and join when required. Sign up to the private rented sector database when it opens in your area, and the Landlord Ombudsman when membership becomes mandatory.
• Keep dated records. Retain proof of everything served and protected, your evidence if a complaint is ever made.

For the wider picture of what the Act changed and how enforcement has played out in practice, our overview of what the Renters' Rights Act means for London landlords and our review of the first six months under the Act sit alongside this penalty-focused guide.

How AIHPG approaches this

At AIHPG the cleanest way to avoid Renters' Rights Act fines is to remove the chance of a breach-by-omission in the first place. Compliance is managed as standard rather than left on the landlord's desk: the correct paperwork is served at the start of every tenancy, deposits are protected and prescribed information issued on time, and rent reviews follow the proper Section 13 route. Because we handle the tenancy lifecycle, the duties that carry penalties are simply built into the process.

The safety certificates that underpin a compliant let, EICR, gas safety and EPC, are arranged and renewed in-house through our sister operation, ClickCleanit, so a lapsed certificate never becomes the breach that sinks a possession claim. And if you have a question about where you stand on a specific obligation, you can speak to the founder directly rather than wait on a call queue. You can see how it fits together across our property management service, our compliance packages, and the wider Included Difference.

Frequently asked questions about Renters' Rights Act fines

How much can you be fined under the Renters' Rights Act?

There are two tiers. A breach, a less serious failure, carries a civil penalty of up to £7,000, with no option for the council to prosecute. An offence, a serious, repeated or continuing failure, carries a civil penalty of up to £40,000, or the local authority can prosecute through the courts instead. Penalties apply per failure, so several breaches can stack.

What is the difference between a breach and an offence under the Act?

A breach is non-compliance the council can only penalise with a civil penalty of up to £7,000. There is no prosecution route. An offence is more serious non-compliance where the council can either impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 or prosecute in the criminal courts. An unaddressed breach can escalate into an offence if the conduct continues after a penalty.

Can you be fined for serving a Section 21 notice now?

Yes. Section 21 no-fault evictions were abolished on 1 May 2026, so serving a Section 21 notice on an assured tenancy after that date is no longer valid and counts as grounds for enforcement. Landlords must now use a Section 8 ground to seek possession, with evidence, rather than the old no-reason route.

Can a landlord be prosecuted or jailed under the Renters' Rights Act?

For an offence, such as illegal eviction or harassment, the council can choose criminal prosecution instead of a civil penalty. Conviction can mean an unlimited fine and a criminal record, and underpins banning orders, though imprisonment is reserved for the most serious cases such as violent illegal eviction. Breaches at the £7,000 tier carry no prosecution route at all.

What is a rent repayment order and how much can a tenant claim?

A rent repayment order is granted by the First-tier Tribunal and requires a landlord who has committed certain offences to repay rent to the tenant. The Renters' Rights Act extended these orders to a longer list of offences and doubled the maximum to up to two years' rent. A rent repayment order can be made on top of any civil penalty the council imposes.

Can you be fined for asking for rent in advance?

Yes. Since 1 May 2026 landlords and agents cannot require more than one month's rent in advance before a tenancy begins, and cannot invite or accept offers above the advertised rent. Both are breaches that attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000, rising if the conduct continues after a penalty has been issued.

When do Renters' Rights Act fines apply from?

The bulk of the new duties, and the penalties for breaking them, took effect on 1 May 2026. Penalties tied to the private rented sector database and the mandatory Landlord Ombudsman arrive later, as those systems launch from late 2026 and 2028 respectively, but the core tenancy, eviction and discrimination rules are already enforceable.

This guide is general information for landlords, not legal advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified property solicitor.