Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, a local authority can impose a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for a breach and up to £40,000 for an offence, decided by the council itself without any court hearing. The distinction is simple: breaches are matters where there is no prosecution alternative, capped at £7,000. Offences are matters that could be prosecuted, where the council can instead impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000. Rent repayment orders sit alongside both and have been extended to reach superior landlords.
The figures below are the indicative starting points published in the government’s civil penalties guidance. Councils apply their own policies, so the actual figure depends on culpability, harm and previous history — but the shape of the schedule tells you where the risk concentrates.
Breaches — up to £7,000
Ending a tenancy by notice to quit or orally — around £6,000. Any route out of a tenancy that is not the prescribed possession process.
Serving a possession notice outside the prescribed process — around £6,000. Wrong form, wrong notice period, missing ground.
Relying on a ground without reasonably believing it applies — around £6,000. Claiming you intend to sell when you do not.
Discriminating against benefits claimants or families — around £6,000. Including indirect rules that have that effect, and including instructions given to your agent.
Attempting to let for a fixed term — around £4,000. Fixed terms no longer exist; offering one is itself a breach.
Failing to issue a written statement of terms — around £4,000. The most commonly missed obligation of the whole Act.
Inviting offers above the advertised rent — around £4,000. The bidding ban.
Failing to specify the proposed rent in an advertisement — around £3,000. Assessed per advert.
Failing to give prior notice for a ground that requires it — around £3,000.
Offences — up to £40,000
Unlawful eviction or harassment — around £35,000. The most serious category, and the one where prosecution remains a live alternative.
Breach of a banning order — around £35,000.
Knowingly relying on a ground that cannot give possession — around £30,000.
Re-letting within the 12-month no-let period — around £25,000. If you take possession under Ground 1 or 1A — moving in or selling — you cannot re-let for 12 months. This is the trap most people underestimate.
Failing to comply with an improvement notice — around £25,000.
Knowingly permitting HMO over-occupation — around £20,000. HMO rules in Guildford.
The two escalation mechanisms
A continuing breach becomes an offence. If a breach is still unremedied 28 days after a penalty has been imposed, it converts into an offence — moving the ceiling from £7,000 to £40,000. The practical implication is that the penalty notice is a clock, not a conclusion. A £4,000 written-statement penalty ignored for a month is a £40,000 exposure.
Repeat breaches double. Where a landlord commits a repeat breach within five years, the starting point is double the combined level of the two constituent breaches. Two £4,000 breaches inside five years do not produce £8,000; they produce £16,000 as a starting point.
Both mechanisms reward the same behaviour: fix it quickly, and keep a record showing you did.
Rent repayment orders
Separately from penalties, a tenant or a council can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order requiring you to pay back up to 12 months’ rent. The Act extended these in two ways: to a wider range of offences, and up the chain to superior landlords — so a head lessee cannot rely on the sub-landlord being the only party in scope. A rent repayment order can be made in addition to a civil penalty for the same underlying conduct.
What this changes in practice
Enforcement no longer needs a court, which means it no longer needs a council to think a case is worth prosecuting. That is the substantive shift. Historically the cost and difficulty of prosecution meant marginal cases were not pursued; a civil penalty imposed administratively costs a council very little, and the receipts are retained for further enforcement. Councils also received expanded investigatory powers from 27 December 2025, ahead of the main commencement.
The risk profile therefore inverts. The old risk was a serious failure discovered by a determined council. The new risk is a routine paperwork gap discovered on a routine inspection.
Where to concentrate
Almost every £3,000–£6,000 item on the breach list is a document or a process, not a building. Written statement served and filed. Section 13 notices on the prescribed form with two months’ notice, once a year. Adverts stating a rent, with no bidding. Affordability rules that do not screen out benefit income. Possession notices on the right form with the right period and a ground you can evidence.
The certificates — gas, EICR, EPC, alarms — sit underneath all of it, and will need to be produced when the PRS Database opens. The full set of changes is in our Renters’ Rights Act guide.
General information, not legal advice. Property Lounge, Guildford.
Need a second opinion?
We’re Property Lounge, an ARLA Propertymark accredited lettings agency in Guildford. If anything above raised a question about your own property, we’re happy to talk it through — whether or not you’re a client, and whether or not you ever become one. No charge, no obligation, and we won’t chase you afterwards.
You can see how our fully managed lettings service works, what it costs, or book a free rental valuation.
Call 01483 369209 or email lettings@propertylounge.co.uk.
