Rogue Hartlepool landlords faces fines of up to £30,000 under new rules

Hartlepool Borough Council will adopt the Nottingham Housing Civil Penalties Policy, which is considered to be an example of “best practice” in the field, to help toughen up its enforcement capabilities.

It means where a serious offence has been committed a civil penalty of up to £30,000 may be imposed by the local authority, as an alternative to prosecution, with the exact fine decided on a case by case basis.

Council officers said they hope the penalties will act as a “powerful deterrent” for landlords who might “otherwise have considered the financial benefits of non-compliance outweighed the risk of enforcement action against them”.

They added it should encourage landlords to “reconsider poor practices” and “improve housing standards across the private rented sector”.

Offences covered under the policy, which is being widely adopted by councils, include landlords failing to comply with improvement and overcrowding notices.

The council’s neighbourhood services committee unanimously backed adopting the policy at their June meeting.

Councillor Mike Young, the leader of the council, said: “Anything that protects residents and in this case tenants is a positive step forward.

“I think that there are a lot of tenants out there who will be experiencing difficulties with maintenance as a key issue and failures on behalf of landlords is something all of us as members want to see addressed.”

Council officers added they are “proactively working to tackle problem properties” and the new policy offers “one of a number of actions in terms of enforcement” they could take.