Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency between local authorities in the application of financial penalties for landlords found to have serious hazards in their rented properties.

A new financial penalty of up to £7,000 for a failure to take reasonably practicable steps to remove a category 1 hazard came into force on 22 June.

Statutory guidance on new financial penalties is included within revised Housing Health and Safety Rating System Enforcement Guidance published on 23 June which can be found on gov.uk here. This statutory guidance seeks to provide a clearer, more transparent and more consistent framework for setting civil penalties across England.

This statutory guidance adopts the same approach to penalty setting as the statutory guidance published in November 2025 on penalties under the Renters’ Rights Act and other housing legislation which can be found on gov.uk here.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 2020 on 27 May 2026.