Under the recently implemented Renter’s Rights Act, local authorities are tasked with cracking down on rogue landlords who engage in unfair practices such as no-fault evictions and banning tenants from having pets without valid reasons. The law, effective from May 1, grants councils enhanced investigatory powers and the ability to impose financial penalties to enforce these tenant protections.
However, Bath and North East Somerset Council officials have raised concerns about the funding model supporting this enforcement. Matt McCabe, the council’s cabinet member responsible for housing, highlighted that while authorities have new enforcement duties, dedicated funding for these actions is lacking.
“Local authorities now have an enforcement function but there is not necessarily any money for that,” McCabe explained during a council scrutiny panel on May 20. He added that the financial penalties collected from landlords may need to cover the costs of enforcement itself—a funding approach he considers unsustainable.
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“There is some transitional funding, but moving forward, we may have to rely on money from prosecutions. That’s not a sensible way to proceed,” McCabe said.
Andy Wait, chair of the scrutiny panel, echoed these concerns: “It seems to be payment by results, which may send the wrong message about enforcement priorities.”
To address enforcement in the short term, Bath and North East Somerset Council is assembling a dedicated team tasked with handling landlord violations. Until this team is operational, the council is partnering with Bristol City Council, which already has an established enforcement unit, to cover the area.