How Do Councils Find Non-Compliant Landlords?

How Do Councils Find Non-Compliant Landlords?

Local housing authorities identify non-compliant landlords mainly through data they already hold and information they can compel. Council tax records, housing benefit claims and tenancy deposit scheme data can all be used under section 134 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Sections 114 and 115 allow councils to require documents from landlords, agents and third parties.

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice for their specific circumstances. It describes the position in England.

What changed on 1 May 2026?

Enforcement moved from a power to a duty. Section 107 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 places local housing authorities under a duty to enforce the landlord legislation, which the statutory guidance defines as the rental discrimination and rental bidding chapters of Part 1 of the Act, sections 1 and 1A of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, and Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988.

The practical significance is in how the guidance describes the starting point. The MHCLG statutory guidance on civil penalties, published on 13 November 2025, states that there is no expectation that authorities take informal steps such as warning letters before taking formal action, and that where non-compliance is established and the evidential threshold is met, the authority must issue a civil penalty notice or start proceedings. Sections 108 and 109, which require authorities to notify each other of enforcement action, were commenced alongside section 107 by regulation 3 of SI 2026/421.

Section 110, which introduces a duty to report on enforcement activity, was not among the provisions listed in that regulation. Landlords are advised to check for later commencement regulations rather than assume the reporting duty is either in force or still pending.

What data do councils already hold?

Councils hold three datasets that identify rental properties without any landlord ever being contacted, and section 134 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 confirms they can be used for enforcement purposes.

The government's investigatory powers guidance gives the intended uses directly: checking whether several housing benefit claims are made from the same address, whether too many people are living in a property, whether a property is being rented at all, and whether a property may require an HMO licence. Section 134 extends the permitted purposes of these gateways to include enforcement of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988, banning order provisions, and the discrimination provisions in Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

This is the detection route most landlords underestimate. A property let without a required licence can be identified from an authority's own systems, and the landlord's first contact with the process may be a notice rather than an inspection request.

Can a council compel documents from a landlord?

Yes, under two separate powers with different scopes. Section 114 allows an authorised officer to require information from a "relevant person", defined in section 114(2) as anyone who in the previous twelve months acted as a landlord, agent, licensor or marketer in connection with the accommodation, or who held an estate or interest in it, or purported to act for someone who did.

Section 115 is broader. Where an officer reasonably suspects a breach or offence, they may require information from any person or organisation, not only those connected with the property. The guidance confirms this power can also be used after an investigation concludes, specifically to help set the level of a civil penalty.

Both notices must be in writing, must specify the section they are given under, and must explain the consequences of not complying. Neither power reaches material covered by legal professional privilege.

The consequences differ. Failure to comply with a section 114 notice is an offence under section 131, carrying a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, subject to a reasonable excuse defence. Failure to comply with a section 115 notice is enforced instead by an application to the court under section 116, and the court may order the person to pay the costs of the application. Information given under the section 115 power cannot be used against the person who gave it in criminal proceedings, a protection set out in section 117.

When can a council enter premises?

The Act separates business premises from residential premises, and the thresholds are different.

For business premises, section 118 permits entry without a warrant at a reasonable time where an officer reasonably believes a relevant person is running a rental sector business there. For a routine inspection, at least 24 hours' written notice is required, though the occupier may waive it. Notice is not required where it is not reasonably practicable to give it, or where the officer reasonably believes notice would defeat the purpose of entry. A warrant may be sought under section 120 where entry has been or is likely to be refused, where notice might result in evidence being concealed, or where no occupier is present. A warrant is valid for one month. These powers cannot be used for premises wholly or mainly used as a home.

Once inside, sections 122 and 123 allow officers to require production of business documents, take copies, and seize and detain documents reasonably suspected of being needed as evidence. Seized documents may generally be kept for three months, or longer if needed for proceedings.

For residential premises, section 126 allows entry without a warrant only by a specially authorised officer, and currently only to investigate an offence under section 1 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The guidance notes that this power will also cover certain PRS Database offences once those provisions are in force. At least 24 hours' notice must be given to occupiers and to others with an interest, though notice to the residential landlord may instead be given within a reasonable period after entry. Separately, section 135 amends section 239 of the Housing Act 2004 to remove the requirement to give the owner of qualifying residential premises 24 hours' notice before entry, replacing it with notification after the event.

What still starts most investigations?

Complaints remain the largest single trigger, and the statutory guidance lists complaints from existing or prospective tenants alongside inspections and other intelligence as the ways an authority becomes aware of suspected non-compliance. What has changed is what happens next: with a duty to enforce and access to compelled documents, a complaint about one issue can reasonably lead to an examination of the wider compliance position.

Two structural changes make this more likely. First, section 108 and 109 notification duties mean enforcement action taken in one area becomes visible to others. Second, the guidance expressly contemplates cross-boundary enforcement, noting that where a portfolio landlord owns properties across several areas and non-compliance extends across the portfolio, a single authority may lead. A landlord who resolves a problem in one borough should not assume the matter ends there.

The guidance also notes that where a landlord or agent receives two or more civil penalties within a 12 month period, and these are offences for which a banning order may be sought, the authority may record their details on the database of rogue landlords and property agents, and is encouraged to do so.

Referrals from other parts of the system matter as well. Possession proceedings expose a landlord's compliance position to the court and to the tenant's adviser, and the abolition of Section 21 means every claim now requires the landlord to establish a ground rather than simply a valid notice. Deposit scheme adjudications, letting agent redress scheme determinations, and reports from tenant advice services all generate records that can prompt a referral. Section 136 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 additionally allows authorities to investigate whether an agent belongs to a client money protection scheme, which is a route into an agent's wider portfolio rather than a single property.

What will the PRS Database change?

The database is expected to make ownership and compliance status directly visible to authorities, but it is not yet operational. The provisions sit in Part 2 Chapter 3 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and form part of Phase 2, which the government's implementation roadmap indicates will begin from late 2026 with a regional rollout. The substantive registration duties, marketing restrictions and associated penalties depend on further commencement regulations that have not yet been made.

Once in force, the effect on detection is straightforward. An authority checking whether a property is registered will be performing a lookup rather than an investigation. Landlords preparing for that shift are advised to ensure their certificate and property records are organised now, since registration is expected to require contact details, property details and core safety information. LLCR is exploring ways to support landlords with database registration, though the scope will depend on the final regulations.

What this means in practice

The realistic assumption for a self-managing landlord in England is that a local housing authority can establish that a property is let, who lets it, and whether a deposit was protected, without asking the landlord anything. The question the landlord is eventually asked is narrower: produce the certificate, the licence, the written statement of terms, or the record of when a repair was reported and what was done.

That is an evidence problem rather than a compliance problem, and the two are often confused. A landlord may be fully compliant and still lose a civil penalty appeal because the dated record does not exist. Keeping certificates, service dates and issue reports in one place, with the dates attached, is the practical response to a system that now starts from data rather than from a knock at the door.

When a council asks what was in place and when, the answer needs a date attached to it. LLCR tracks every certificate and statutory deadline across a portfolio, with Smart Document Capture reading the key dates off each document as it is uploaded.