The face of Housing Enforcement in the Private Rented Sector is changing and with calls for more governmental funding for more enforcement one has to know what it is already like and what one has to do to be prepared for the changes. Here are my experiences of how housing enforcement is being conducted more and more.

Why are landlords being treated like criminals?
Because enforcement today is not about support. It is about revenue.

The officers might not carry truncheons, but they wield legislation like weapons. And the landlord, more often than not, has no idea the rules have changed until the fine arrives.

Housing enforcement operates with all the tactics of criminal policing, but none of the safeguards.

There is no uniform, no caution usually, and no day in court.

Just a demand for thousands of pounds, triggered by nothing more than an officer declaring they are “satisfied” that an offence has occurred, with no obligation to provide any real proof upfront.

How did we get here?
Through a slow, quiet expansion of power. Under the Housing Act 2004 being extended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016, councils were handed the authority to issue civil penalties instead of prosecutions.