Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of current legislation in ensuring enforcement action can be taken against private landlords who reside overseas and who are not fulfilling their legal obligations to tenants.

The Housing Act 2004 gives powers to local authorities to regulate and enforce standards in the private rented sector. The Housing and Planning Act 2016 further introduced civil penalties of up to £30,000 and banning orders for use against the worst and most persistent offenders. Legislation also extended rent repayment orders which require a landlord to repay rent when they have not complied with the law.

We have also given local authorities strong powers to undertake urgent repairs where they identify health and safety hazards or poor conditions. If landlords do not comply, or if the risk is high enough, local authorities can carry out the remedial works themselves and recover the costs.

Enforcement action to ensure a property is safe for a tenant to live in can be taken when the landlord resides overseas. For example, absent landlords, including those overseas, may be subject to prosecutions and Banning Orders.