Housing offences sentencing guidelines

Overview

What is this consultation about?

This consultation asks for feedback on a new package of housing related offences sentencing guidelines. These include two guidelines covering the nine offences of unlawful eviction of occupier and unlawful harassment of occupier and four guidelines covering offences related to houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and other housing standards offences. The package includes guidelines for individuals and guidelines for organisations.

Why housing offences?

Various stakeholders wrote to the Council between 2015 and 2024 requesting consideration of sentencing guidelines for a number of housing related offences or groups of offences. These stakeholders include prosecutors, barristers, solicitors, individuals working in enforcement teams in local councils, and officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The main offences that stakeholders requested the Council consider developing pertained to the private rented sector and offences committed by “rogue landlords”, such as offences related to letting out HMOs, unlawful eviction and failing to comply with orders, including, for example, prohibition orders, improvement notices, and licensing related offences.

Two key concerns regarding the lack of guidelines for these types of offences expressed by stakeholders were:

1. Low level, inconsistent and diverging penalties imposed both at magistrates’ and Crown Courts for these types of offences, making it difficult for legal counsel to advise clients about likely outcomes, and leaving sentencers without guidance or precedent to impose consistent and proportionate sentences across the country.
2. Significant gravity of some offences with significant harm caused to victims and no guidance on sentencing, especially in regard to unlawful eviction, which could include vulnerable victims permanently losing their homes or belongings.

Unlawful eviction and unlawful harassment

While sentencing data from the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database shows low volumes of unlawful eviction and unlawful harassment cases, research in the charity sector suggests there are a significant number of illegal eviction and harassment activities that are not being brought to prosecution through the criminal justice system (see for example, Cambridge House’s ‘Safer Renting’ report ‘Offences under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 in England: 2022 update of the annual count’.

Stakeholders the Council spoke to in the development of these guidelines outlined that the high proportion of low level and inconsistent sentences for these types of offences is widely recognised as a contributing factor to the reluctance of local authorities to prosecute these offences and instead deal with them through civil means (although there may be other factors driving this as well). Stakeholders suggested that this reluctance results in low volumes of prosecutions, which means that sentencers are not able to gain experience in sentencing these offences. This may be especially apparent for offences with a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine, for example unlawful eviction committed by an organisation.

Stakeholders suggested that unlawful eviction and harassment cases are more often pursued by local authorities via civil means, when, particularly in more serious cases, a criminal penalty may be more appropriate. For example, a successful prosecution would allow the offending to be put on a landlord’s criminal record, they could be served with a banning order under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, compensation could be awarded to victims, and the local authority would be able to publicise the prosecution, which they cannot do following the imposition of a civil penalty. Moreover, the harm that can be caused by this offending includes a victim losing access to their possessions or losing their home entirely, and the offending is often seen alongside violence and harassment. It seems appropriate that these harms are reflected, at least in some cases, with non-financial penalties, such as custodial sentences or community orders.

Further, the Sentencing Council’s General guideline outlines, “it should not be cheaper to offend than to comply with the law.” The costs associated with a landlord legally gaining possession of their home can cost up to one thousand pounds, and in more difficult situations needing legal support, run into thousands of pounds.

Houses in Multiple Occupation

A further priority for those groups that contacted the Council were for guidelines for offences related to licensing and overcrowding in HMOs. Securing a licence for an HMO is a matter of showing that the property is appropriate for the number of tenants specified in the application, and that the applicant is a fit and proper person. Licence conditions for HMOs are set by local authorities, but may include matters relating to taking steps to prevent anti-social behaviour, ensuring there are suitable amenities, keeping facilities and equipment in proper working order, and ensuring the licence holder has undergone appropriate training.

Licence conditions must include the conditions set out in Schedule 4 to the 2004 Act, which include matters relating to producing gas safety certificates, ensuring furniture and appliances are safe, putting working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place and, in England, ensuring electrical installations are in proper working order.

HMO management regulations place duties on HMO managers to make sure properties are safe, that there are fire escape routes, that water supply and drainage are in good condition, that gas safety certificates are produced, that the shared areas, fixtures and fittings are kept to a decent standard and that there are waste disposal facilities.

There may, therefore, be some overlap between the matters covered by licence requirements and breach of HMO regulations. Whilst the former are subject to local variation and the latter provide basic national standards, the Council believes that the consideration of harm that the courts will undertake to assess the seriousness of offending means these can be included in one overall HMO guideline.

Housing Standards

There are various offences related more broadly to standards of housing: although these were not necessarily the focus of those who contacted the Council requesting guidelines, the Council recognised that there may be areas of overlap where HMO offences are prosecuted. Local authorities have a duty to take appropriate enforcement action in relation to “Category 1 hazards” (i.e. a “serious hazard” classed A to C following a score of 1,000 or more following an assessment using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which looks at the outcome and likelihood of different hazards). For all others (i.e. “Category 2 hazards”), local authorities have discretion to take enforcement action.

This enforcement action may include an improvement notice requiring the person on whom it is served to take remedial action to remove or reduce the hazard. Failure to comply is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine.

Another option for enforcement action is a prohibition order prohibiting the use for some or all purposes of some or all parts of a property (a prohibition order must set out any remedial work which the authority considers would, if taken, lead them to revoke the order). Failure to comply is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine but an additional fine of up to £20 a day may be imposed for each day (or part of a day) that a property continues to be used in contravention of an order.

Approach to the guidelines

In preparing the guidelines, the Council has had regard to the purposes of sentencing and to its statutory duties.

This consultation

Taking all these issues together, the Council considered it necessary to consult on a package of housing related offences guidelines.

This consultation includes two guidelines covering the nine offences of unlawful eviction of occupier and unlawful harassment of occupier and four guidelines covering offences related to HMOs and other housing standards offences.

The Council understands that these offences are inherently difficult to prosecute in terms of the resource and knowledge required by local authorities and the police of these offences. In addition to sentencing guidelines providing guidance to courts on the appropriate criminal penalties for these offences and factors to take into account which may result in more confidence in prosecuting these types of offences, it has been suggested by stakeholders that guidelines for these offences may also help local authorities differentiate when an offence should receive a civil penalty or be prosecuted.

The Council considered other offences related to housing in this project and is aware of the broad and complex landscape of legislation that covers the private rented sector and which gives local authorities powers to enforce landlords to meet their statutory obligations. After speaking to stakeholders and considering relevant research and data, it considered that the guidelines within scope of this consultation were most in need of sentencing guidelines. The Council is also aware that the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has introduced further duties on landlords, statutory duties to enforce housing legislation, as well as new offences, and that the civil penalty powers of local authorities have been increased from £30,000 to £40,000. Whilst these proposed guidelines would operate independently of any civil enforcement regime, the Council hopes that they will support the overall enforcement framework and assist local authorities and the courts in understanding their options for tackling housing offences.

What is the Sentencing Council?

The Sentencing Council is the independent body responsible for developing sentencing guidelines which courts in England and Wales must follow when passing a sentence. The Council consults on its proposed guidelines before they come into force and on any proposed changes to existing guidelines.

Responding to the consultation

Through this consultation process, the Council is seeking views on:

• the principal factors that make any of the offences included within the draft guidelines more or less serious
• the additional factors that should influence the sentence
• the fine levels, and types and lengths of sentence that should be passed
• whether there are any issues relating to disparity of sentencing and/or broader matters relating to equality and diversity that the guidelines could and should address, and
• anything else you think should be considered.

We would like to hear from anyone who uses sentencing guidelines in their work or who has an interest in sentencing, and anyone who works in or has knowledge of the private rented sector. We would also like to hear from individuals and organisations representing anyone who could be affected by the proposals including:

• victims and their families
• defendants and their families
• those with protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

In the following sections the proposed changes are outlined in detail and you will be asked to give your views. You can give your views by answering some or all of the questions below either by email to consultation@sentencingcouncil.gov.uk or by using the online consultation at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/. A summary of the consultation questions can be found at Annex A.

What else is happening as part of the consultation process?

This is a 12 week public consultation. The Council has not yet planned any consultation meetings but would be happy to arrange a meeting to discuss any of the issues raised if this would be helpful. Once the results of the consultation have been considered, the updated guidelines will be published alongside a consultation response document setting out the consultation responses and the Council’s response to these.

Alongside the consultation, small scale qualitative research will be conducted with sentencers on the HMO and housing standards guidelines to test how the draft guidelines may be used in practice, and to identify any potential issues with them. Similar research was conducted prior to the consultation to inform the initial development of the draft unlawful eviction and unlawful harassment guidelines.