Council launches consultation with tenants on landlord fines

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Council launches consultation with tenants on landlord fines

A council is asking renters to help decide how much it will fine landlords who breach rules under the Renters’ Rights Act.

The law introduces civil penalties of up to £7,000 for breaches and up to £40,000 for more serious offences.

It also hands councils stronger enforcement powers over the private rented sector.

Now Bristol City Council is consulting on exactly how those penalties should be set locally.

Grabbing the opportunity

The Bristol Live website reports Green councillor Barry Parsons, chair of the housing committee, saying: “This council will be grabbing the opportunities it presents with both hands … to bring the biggest benefits that we possibly can to renters.”

National statutory guidance for councils sets out the starting levels for different offence types and lists aggravating and mitigating factors they must consider.

While the council’s draft policy closely follows that guidance, it retains discretion over some starting levels for fines.

These include licence condition offences and electrical safety regulation breaches.

Civil penalty policy required

The council says that a new civil penalty policy is required to allow officers to determine the level of financial penalty for offences.

The draft sets out how discretionary factors would be interpreted and applied case by case.

Tom Gilchrist, the head of service for private housing, gave councillors on the housing policy committee an update on the act.

He said the council has not yet seen landlords exiting the market or a spike in homelessness linked to the abolition of Section 21.

However, he acknowledged that some smaller landlords with one or a handful of properties may struggle with the new compliance landscape.

The public consultation on its draft civil penalty policy runs until March 30 via the council’s website.

Licence checks and rising penalties

Meanwhile, Bristol’s private landlords are being urged to check whether their properties require a licence.

Those without the right licence can face prosecution, an unlimited fine or a Civil Penalty Notice of up to £30,000.

That sum will rise to £40,000 from 1 May following the introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

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Buy to let lending growth is matching homebuyers

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Property118

Buy to let lending growth is matching homebuyers

Buy to let borrowing is rising at the same rate as loans taken out by first-time buyers and home movers as improving BTL rates are helping landlords invest, research reveals.

According to mortgage brokers Alexander Hall, the buy to let mortgage lending market expanded at an average quarterly rate of 7% over the past year.

That puts landlord activity level with both first-time buyers and those moving home – and it says the data shows landlords aren’t leaving the PRS.

In Q3 last year, the latest period available, £6.6bn was advanced to landlords and while this is still the smallest slice of overall mortgage lending at 8.2%, it is a 22% jump on the previous quarter.

It’s also 26% higher than the same period in 2024.

BTL lending is growing

The firm’s managing director, Richard Merrett, said: “While some amateur landlords may have chosen to exit the sector following a string of government regulatory changes designed to dent portfolio profitability, the idea of a widespread landlord exodus simply isn’t reflected in the lending data.

“In fact, our analysis shows that buy to let lending has been growing at the same pace as both first-time buyer and home mover activity over the last year, which underlines that investor appetites remain very much alive.”

He added: “Of course, there have been some notable improvements to the mortgage landscape which will have helped to fuel the fire, with lower rates, greater product availability, and more favourable monthly repayments all helping to support landlord margins and reinforce buy to let’s position as one of the more stable long-term investment options available.

“As confidence continues to return across the mortgage market, we expect this momentum to carry forward into 2026 as the buy to let sector continues to defy the narrative that landlords are calling time and looking to exit.”

BTL sector is growing

The brokerage examined historic figures from the Bank of England, tracking quarterly gross advances by loan purpose to gauge how each segment has performed as conditions have stabilised.

Its findings point to a big upswing.

However, while average quarterly expansion shows that BTL lending matched owner-occupier segments, only remortgaging grew faster.

The firm says that sector grew by 12% on average as households rushed to refinance amid improving mortgage deals.

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