New Council Enforcement Powers Under the Renters' Rights Act

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 gives local councils in England their most significant enforcement upgrade in two decades. Phase 1, which took effect on 27 December 2025, introduced expanded investigatory powers and new financial recovery tools. Phase 2 (from 1 May 2026) adds a range of new offences that councils can enforce against.

The headline changes include:

• New powers to request information from banks, building societies, and accountants during investigations
• Powers to request information from tenancy deposit protection schemes and client money protection schemes
• Expanded civil penalty framework covering over 20 offences
• Councils retain 100% of civil penalty revenue (ring-fenced for housing enforcement)
• £18.2 million in new enforcement funding for 2025/26 to help councils build capacity

These powers apply to all local housing authorities in England. Combined with the PRS Database (expected late 2026), they represent a fundamental shift from reactive, complaint-driven enforcement to a proactive, intelligence-led model.

Before the Renters' Rights Act, councils often struggled to investigate rogue landlords because they could not access financial records or trace landlord identities. The Act changes this dramatically.

Banks and building societies: Councils can now serve information notices on banks and building societies requiring them to disclose account details, transaction histories, and account holder information linked to a specific investigation. This helps trace rental income, identify undisclosed properties, and build evidence for civil penalties.

Accountants and tax advisers: Similarly, councils can require accountants to provide information about a landlord's property portfolio, rental income, and business structure. This is particularly useful for tracking landlords who operate through complex company structures.

Tenancy deposit protection schemes: Councils can request data from DPS, MyDeposits, and TDS to identify unregistered properties, check deposit compliance, and cross-reference with licensing and enforcement records.

Client money protection schemes: Letting agents must protect client money (rent, deposits) in approved schemes. Councils can now access scheme records to investigate agents suspected of mishandling client funds.

These powers require a formal notice and can only be used in connection with a genuine investigation. They are subject to data protection safeguards and cannot be used for fishing expeditions.

The civil penalty system introduced by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 has been significantly expanded. Councils can now impose financial penalties for a much wider range of offences:

New offences enforceable by civil penalty:

Penalty ranges:

Councils use a structured framework to determine penalty amounts, considering the severity of the offence, the landlord's track record, whether the breach was deliberate, the vulnerability of affected tenants, and the financial gain from non-compliance.

For council enforcement officers looking for the complete penalty table, see our detailed guide on civil penalties for landlords.

A crucial detail of the enforcement framework is that councils retain all civil penalty income. This revenue must be ring-fenced for housing enforcement activities, meaning every penalty imposed funds further enforcement capacity.

This creates a virtuous cycle: more enforcement leads to more penalty income, which funds more enforcement staff, technology, and inspections. Councils that invest in strong enforcement teams can become self-funding over time.

The £18.2 million in government funding for 2025/26 is designed to help councils build initial capacity. This covers:

• Hiring and training enforcement officers
• Upgrading IT systems and databases
• Preparing for PRS Database integration
• Building legal capacity for penalty proceedings and tribunal work

Some councils are already making significant use of civil penalties. In 2024/25, London boroughs collectively imposed over £10 million in civil penalties on private landlords. With the expanded offence list, this figure is expected to grow substantially.

The Renters' Rights Act also simplified the selective licensing process. Since December 2024, councils no longer need Secretary of State approval for selective licensing schemes. This removes a significant bureaucratic hurdle that previously delayed or prevented schemes from being introduced.

Councils can now:

• Introduce selective licensing schemes covering up to 20% of their area or 20% of their private rented properties without central government approval
• Larger schemes still require consultation but not ministerial sign-off
• Combine selective licensing with the PRS Database for streamlined compliance monitoring

This has already led to a surge in new selective licensing proposals. Over 60 councils now have active or planned selective licensing schemes, with more in development.

For a full guide to selective licensing schemes across England, see our selective licensing guide.

Stronger council enforcement directly benefits tenants:

• Faster response to complaints: With more funding and staff, councils can investigate tenant reports more quickly
• Proactive inspections: Councils do not need to wait for complaints. They can use the PRS Database and other intelligence sources to target inspections at high-risk properties
• Greater deterrence: Higher penalties and better detection mean landlords are more likely to comply with the law
• No retaliation risk: With Section 21 abolished, landlords cannot evict you for reporting them to the council

If you have concerns about your rental property, report them to your local council. Use our property check tool to identify potential issues, and our report issue tool to generate a formal complaint letter.

You can also check whether your area has a selective licensing scheme using our landlord register tool, which may give the council additional enforcement powers.