Approach letter

We will send approach letters to ‘G’ rated properties followed by the ‘F’ rated properties.

The letter will advise landlords who rent substandard properties that they are contravening the regulations.

Landlords will be given an appropriate amount of time, normally 14 days, to respond to the letter. They can either show evidence they now have a compliant Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), or set out a plan to achieve the required energy efficiency level.

Compliance notice

If we receive no correspondence or communication from the landlord within 14 days then we will serve a compliance notice which will:

• formally request that the landlord produces documents within 35 days
• advise that if they continue to be in breach, an investigation will follow and formal enforcement action will be considered.

The compliance notice will help determine whether a breach of the regulations has occurred and the next step in enforcement.

A compliance notice can be served up to 12 months after a suspected breach occurred.

A compliance notice can request information on:

• the EPC that was valid for the time when the property was let
• the tenancy agreement used for letting the property
• any energy efficiency improvements made
• any energy advice reports for the property
• any other relevant document

Any non-compliance or failure to engage with us at this stage may result in the property being referred to our Housing Standards Team to carry out a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection.

Penalty notice and/or details of breach published

If we confirm that a property is (or has been) let in breach of the regulations, officers can serve a financial penalty notice up to 18 months after the breach and/or publish details of the breach for at least 12 months.

Under the regulations, we may publish some details of the landlord’s breach on a publicly accessible part of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Exemptions Register.

Penalties

We have the discretion to decide the penalty amount, up to maximum limits set by the regulations.

The maximum penalties are as follows: 

• up to £2,000 and/or publication penalty for renting out a non-compliant property for less than 3 months  
• up to £4,000 and/or publication penalty for renting out a non-compliant property for 3 months or more 
• up to £1,000 and/or publication for providing false or misleading information on the PRS Exemptions Register 
• up to £2,000 and/or publication for failure to comply with a compliance notice 

The maximum penalty amounts apply per property and per breach of the regulations. The maximum amount that can be fined per property is £5,000 in total.

Following the penalty notice 

The landlord can do one of the following:
A. accept the penalty notice and pay the penalty. 
B. disagree with the notice and request a review of the penalty notice decision.

If we review the decision

We will either:
A. make a decision in the landlord’s favour and quash the penalty. 
B. uphold the penalty notice. 

If the penalty notice is upheld

The landlord can then either: 
A. pay the penalty. 
B. choose not to pay the penalty, in which case we may take debt recovery action – however the landlord may still appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

If the landlord appeals to the First-tier Tribunal

The tribunal will review the decision and either: 
A. make a decision in the landlord’s favour and quash the penalty.
B. reject the landlord’s appeal and affirm the penalty.

If the tribunal affirms the penalty

The landlord can then either: 
A. pay the penalty. 
B choose not to pay the penalty, in which case we may take debt recovery action.