Bristol City Council is asking tenants for their views on financial penalties for landlords who breach housing rules, ahead of new enforcement powers coming in under the Renters’ Rights Act in May.
Landlords, letting agents and the wider public are also being invited to contribute as part of the consultation process.
£40,000 max
Although the law sets maximum penalties of up to £7,000 for breaches and £40,000 for offences. In practice, however, councils retain a degree of discretion over how those fines are applied, including where the starting levels are set and how adjustments are made for individual cases.
Accompanying documents show how the process would work. Officers begin with a baseline figure, which can then increase or decrease depending on factors such as the seriousness of the breach, risk to tenants, compliance history, cooperation during an investigation and whether problems were remedied quickly.
Too low?
In the questionnaire, participants are asked whether the locally set starting penalties and percentage adjustments are “too low”, “about right” or “too high”, as well as inviting comments on the proposed uplifts for repeat or deliberate breaches and reductions where landlords take early remedial action or admit responsibility.
Respondents are also asked whether they agree or disagree on other elements of the proposed framework, including a 10% uplift to adjust for Bristol’s higher rents, the treatment of vulnerable tenants, and a 33% reduction where a penalty is paid within 28 days of the Final Notice.
In addition, the council is proposing that electrical safety breaches (maximum penalty £40,000) should come under the same framework. The consultation runs until 30 March, with the policy due to apply from 1 May 2026.
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