Total fines for rogue landlords and letting agents has crossed the £8.1 million mark for the first time. This represents a total increase of over £300,000 in the last four months.

In August this year,  the fines for letting agents and landlords increased by more than one and a half million pounds to a total of more than £8.1 million. Now in just under a year, the total fines for letting agents and landlords have increased by over a million pounds to £8,157,745 at the beginning of December 2022.

Since the start of this year, the average increase of fine has been around £90,000 in fines every month. This year, Camden council has been topping the council enforcement list in terms of number of cases brought forward, followed closely by Newham and Waltham Forest. Yet, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham now has highest average of fines at £19,800, followed by Hillingdon with an average of £13,500, and Hackney with £11,250.

Letting agents and landlords stand to face fines of up to £30,000 for non compliance if they fail to comply with safety and licensing regulations. They may also face additional fines of up to £5,000 per property for non compliance with MEES regulations.

A London landlord has been fined and ordered to pay a confiscation order for ignoring planning rules. The landlord’s flats failed to meet minimum floor space requirements, with one building judged to be ‘poor quality accommodation.’ Magistrates ordered the landlord to pay a confiscation order of £251,582 as well as Waltham Forest council’s legal fees of £29,725, after he was found guilty of having failed to comply with a Planning Enforcement notice dating back to 2013. The landlord was also handed a fine of £16,000 reduced to £12,000 in recognition of a guilty plea. With the penalty based on income generated by the landlord’s unauthorised property portfolio, the Judge gave him three months to pay or face 30 months in prison, remarking that his offending “undermines the entire system of planning control”

Rob Stross

Source Annual-Licensing-Update-2022-Kamma

Kamma was founded to make sure that no tenant should ever have to live in unsafe accommodation.