26th
Aug 2022
Landlords and lettings agent fines in Greater London have broken the £8 million barrier with an increase of £2 million since August 2021. In the last month alone there was a £238,000 increase in fines according to data just released from a company specialising in data for property and financial sectors.
The firm studied data taken from its tracking of the Mayor of London’s Rogue London and Agent Checker that shows having come through the pandemic’s effect of slowing down enforcement actions due to lockdown restrictions, councils housing teams are now back in action causing the surge in enforcement penalties which are around 20 per cent of all fines in the last twelve months.
An increase in new licensing schemes is also causing major headaches for agents and landlords with the complexity of new regulations and one single mistake will lead to fines. In the last 12 months there have been 13 new schemes launched in Greater London and 30 across the UK.
Councils are also directing efforts into other ‘opportunities’ of enforcement through MEES regulations and Rent Repayment Orders; one example earlier in the year was of a landlord in East London having to repay former tenants more than £12,000 in a RPO case.
What with the surge in enforcements the fines have increased and in August 2021 the average fine for lettings agents was £4,380 and the firm reports that this has risen by 7 per cent taking the average fine up to £4,690; however landlords average fines are lower but higher in numbers with an average of £4,304.
Enforcement fines activity across the boroughs has Camden at the top, with Newham and Southwark closely behind. However the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham boast the highest average fine of £129,800 per offence, Hillingdon is next with an average of £13,500 and Hackney with £11,250.
A spokesperson for the firm, says: “Local councils are sending a strong message to landlords and agents across the country with fines increasing by £2 million in the 12 months. Agents need to see this as an opportunity to take control of their compliance and take action to protect their clients, and themselves against further enforcement efforts and fines."
Letting agents and landlords will face fines of up to £30,000 for breaking safety and licensing regulations, plus extra fines of £5,000 per property failing MEES regulated standards.
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