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What's your landlord fine exposure?
Since the Renters' Rights Act came into force, the penalties for getting compliance wrong have shot up. Answer a few questions and see your maximum exposure for a property like yours, in 60 seconds. A Scottish postcode is priced in Scots law, read at Scottish instruments — never an England figure with Scotland written on it.
Has gas supply?
Is it furnished?
Tenancy status
Illustrative statutory maximums for England, Wales and Scotland, based on the requirements that apply to a property like yours — a Scottish postcode is priced in Scots law and an English one in English law. Actual penalties are at the local authority’s or court’s discretion and vary by case. Information, not legal advice.
Every figure the calculator uses, and where it comes from
These are the statutory maximums, not what a council will actually charge. A first breach promptly put right does not attract the ceiling — authorities apply published penalty matrices weighing culpability, harm, track record and co-operation. The tool prices a property against this same table.
Two licensing ceilings are live at once. The section 249A maximum rose to £40,000 on 1 May 2026, but regulation 4 of SI 2026/319 keeps £30,000 for conduct before that date. Which one applies is decided by when the letting happened, not by when the council acted.
Capped civil penalties — England and Wales
| Breach | Maximum | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Unlicensed HMO | £40,000 | Housing Act 2004 s.72 offence; civil penalty under s.249A, ceiling raised to £40,000 on 1 May 2026 by SI 2026/319 reg 2 — plus a rent repayment order of up to two years’ rent, and prosecution is available instead. The £30,000 ceiling still applies to offences committed before 1 May 2026 (SI 2026/319 reg 4) |
| No valid electrical report (EICR) | £30,000 | Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, reg 11 |
| No valid electrical report (EICR) | £30,000 | Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 as applied in Wales |
| No Right to Rent check (per occupier) | £10,000 | Immigration Act 2014; civil penalty rates raised February 2024 — first breach |
| Information Sheet not served | £7,000£40,000 repeat | Renters' Rights Act 2025 |
| Improper rent increase | £7,000£40,000 repeat | Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.13 procedure |
| Discriminatory letting practice | £7,000£40,000 repeat | Renters' Rights Act 2025, rental discrimination provisions |
| Unreasonably refusing a pet request | £7,000£40,000 repeat | Renters' Rights Act 2025, s.16A |
| Missing smoke alarms | £5,000 | Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended 2022 |
| Missing carbon monoxide alarms | £5,000 | Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended 2022 |
| Missing smoke / CO alarms | £5,000 | Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations as applied in Wales |
| Letting below the minimum EPC rating | £5,000 | Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, reg 40 |
Unlimited on conviction — England and Wales
These carry no ceiling, so they are counted separately and never added into a total. legislation.gov.uk still prints the old maxima for most of them, because LASPO 2012 s.85 converted them generally rather than amending each provision textually.
| Breach | Penalty | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| No valid Gas Safety certificate (CP12) | Unlimited | Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 reg 36; offence under Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.33 and Sch 3A, summary maximum converted to unlimited by LASPO 2012 s.85 — prosecution, and imprisonment is available |
| Non-compliant furniture | Unlimited | Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988; summary maximum converted to unlimited by LASPO 2012 s.85 |
| No legionella risk assessment | Unlimited | Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.3; summary maximum converted to unlimited by LASPO 2012 s.85 |
| No HMO fire risk assessment | Unlimited | Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006; offence under Housing Act 2004 s.234(3), summary maximum converted to unlimited by LASPO 2012 s.85 |
Where the consequence is not a fine
| Breach | Consequence | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| "How to Rent" guide not served | blocks possession via the usual route | Housing Act 1988 s.21B (inserted by Deregulation Act 2015); SI 2015/1646 |
| Unprotected deposit | 1–3× the deposit payable to the tenant, and a possession order is blocked on any ground except 7A and 14 | Housing Act 2004 ss.213–215, s.215 amended by Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.26 |
| Deposit information not served | 1–3× the deposit | Housing Act 2004 s.213(6) |
| Unprotected deposit | 1–3× the deposit | Housing (Wales) Act 2014; Housing Act 2004 ss.213–215 |
| Property unfit for habitation | tenant can sue for damages | Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, inserting s.9A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 |
Scotland — a different regime, read at Scottish instruments
Scotland is not England with different numbers. Landlord registration is a national duty with no English equivalent, HMO licensing sits in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 rather than the 2004 Act, and the rent penalty notice bites before any fine does.
| Breach | Maximum | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Letting or managing while unregistered | £50,000 | Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, s.93(1) and (2); maximum of £50,000 substituted by the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011, in force 31 August 2011 — and see the rent penalty notice below, which is the sanction that actually bites first |
| Operating an unlicensed HMO | £50,000 | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s.154(1) — offence; s.156(1)(a) — fine not exceeding £50,000 on summary conviction — the same maximum applies to an agent under s.154(4)(a) |
| Breaching an HMO licence condition | £10,000 | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s.154(2) — offence; s.156(1)(b) — fine not exceeding £10,000 on summary conviction |
| Non-compliant furniture | £5,000 | Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988; offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 s.12(5) — six months and/or a fine not exceeding level 5, which is £5,000 in Scotland — level 5 is £5,000 under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 s.225(2) — LASPO did not lift it here |
| Short-term letting without a licence | £2,500 | Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, s.7(1) — fine not exceeding level 4, which is £2,500; short-term lets designated as a licensable activity by SSI 2022/32, art.4, from 1 October 2022 — breaching a condition of the licence is a separate offence at level 3, £1,000, under s.7(2) |
| Failing to comply with a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order | £1,000 | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s.28(1) and (5) — fine not exceeding level 3, which is £1,000 — the fine is the small part: the Tribunal can also make a rent relief order cutting rent by up to 90% until the work is done |
| No EPC made available | £500 | Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (SSI 2008/309), reg 17(4)(i) — £500 for a dwelling — Scotland sets no minimum EPC band, so there is no penalty for letting at a low band — only for failing to produce the certificate |
| No valid gas safety record | Unlimited | Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg 36; offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 s.33 and Sch 3A — in Scotland £20,000 on summary conviction, and a fine of any amount on indictment — the LASPO uplift to an unlimited summary fine extends to England and Wales only; imprisonment is available |
| No legionella risk assessment | Unlimited | Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, s.3 and Sch 3A — in Scotland £20,000 on summary conviction, and a fine of any amount on indictment; prosecuted by COPFS |
| Deposit not paid into an approved scheme | £0 | Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (SSI 2011/176), reg 10(a) — the First-tier Tribunal MUST order up to three times the deposit — and unlike England, where s.214(4) of the Housing Act 2004 sets a floor of one times, Scotland sets no minimum, so the whole range from a token sum to 3× is open to the Tribunal |
| Wrongful termination of the tenancy | £0 | Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, ss.57–59 — a wrongful-termination order of an amount not exceeding six months’ rent — six months of the actual rent, so the figure depends on the tenancy and cannot be stated in advance |
| No electrical safety inspection (EICR) | £0 | Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s.19A — the duty sits inside the Repairing Standard, enforced under ss.24–28 — there is no separate electrical fine in Scotland: a failure is a Repairing Standard failure, so the route is a Tribunal enforcement order, a rent relief order of up to 90%, and then the level 3 offence for ignoring the order |
| Written terms of the tenancy not provided | £0 | Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, s.10 — duty; s.14 — the tenant may apply to the First-tier Tribunal to draw up the terms — no fine attaches; the Tribunal writes the tenancy for you, which is a worse outcome than it sounds |
| Rent penalty notice — your right to be paid rent is suspended | £0 | Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, s.94 — while the notice has effect, “no rent shall be payable under any lease or occupancy arrangement in respect of the house to which the notice relates” — this is a SUSPENSION OF RENT LIABILITY, not a fine. Nothing is payable to the council and nothing is added to any total here — the loss is the rent you do not collect for as long as the notice runs, and the lease itself stays valid throughout |
| Alarms below the interlinked standard | £0 | Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, s.86 (tolerable standard), as extended by SSI 2019/291 — no fine attaches directly: an alarm failure is a tolerable standard failure, which is a Repairing Standard failure through paragraph (h), which puts it in front of the Tribunal |
| Property below the tolerable standard | £0 | Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, s.86 — the consequence is statutory action by the local authority — work notices, and ultimately closing or demolition orders — rather than a fine on the landlord |
| Rent increased outside the statutory procedure | £0 | Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, s.22 and Part 4 — there is no penalty: the increase simply does not take effect, and the rent stays where it was |