Landlords - standards and enforcement

As a landlord, you have to comply with laws which protect the health, safety and welfare of your tenants.

If you don't, we will take enforcement action to make sure they keep to the laws. 

We can offer free information and advice and will try our best to help. But if you still don't comply with the law, we can:

  • take informal action
  • issue statutory notices and orders
  • give a formal caution
  • prosecute

Complaints 

If you don't carry out repairs you are responsible for, and someone complains to us, we have to investigate.

We will write to tell you about the complaint, and give you at least 24 hours notice that we are going to come and inspect your property. We will carry out a full inspection, taking photographs as a record.

We will rate any hazards we find at your property, as identified under the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System, and produce a list of the work you will need to do. We will send you a formal letter, with this information in it.

We will give you 30 days to contact us, agree to carry out the works, and complete some of the minor repairs.

If you do this, we will continue to work with you, and set a deadline for the rest of the work.

Improvement notice

If you don't contact us, or carry out the minor repairs within the 30 day period, we will serve you with an Improvement Notice. We'll also do this if you don't complete all the required work by the final deadline we gave you.

If you get an Improvement Notice, you will have to pay a charge to cover our costs.

The Improvement Notice will set strict timescales for work to be completed. If you still don't comply, we can prosecute you. We can also do the work ourselves and then charge you for it.

Other enforcement actions we can take

Hazard awareness notice

This is just an advisory notice, to make you aware of hazards in your property. There are no timescales, and no follow up inspection. It's mainly used when the hazards are extremely minor.

Prohibition order

This is used when there is a serious threat to the health and safety of occupants or visitors. It can be used to prevent part or all of a home from being used. It can also be used to limit the number of occupants.

Emergency action

This is used when there is an immediate risk to health and safety. It allows us to carry out immediate works to a property. It also allows us to serve an immediate emergency prohibition order.

Demolition and clearance options

These are used relatively rarely and only when a Category One hazard is present. They are used when there is imminent risk to health and safety and when properties are beyond reasonable repair.

Environmental Protection Act

This is used where hazards in a property can cause disease or ill health. It's most commonly used where there is a lack of constant hot water to a property. An Environmental Protection Act Section 80 notice is served, requiring that the hot water is reinstated within a short period of time. If the work isn't carried out within the deadline, we can carry out the works and pass the cost onto you. If you don't comply with the notice, we can prosecute you.