Landlords are being fined twice for the same offences under what one licensing specialist calls a “double jeopardy” enforcement practice by local authorities, with councils copying existing legal requirements into licence conditions to create additional penalty routes.
Phil Turtle, licensing specialist at Landlord Licensing & Defence, says councils routinely include conditions in housing licences that simply repeat obligations already set out in primary legislation – from HMO Management Regulations to gas safety and deposit protection rules.
How the duplication works
The practice affects selective, additional and mandatory HMO licensing schemes. When a landlord fails to meet a requirement – say, providing an up-to-date electrical safety certificate – they can face enforcement under the original legislation. But because councils often restate these same requirements as licence conditions, the landlord can also be penalised for breaching their licence.
Turtle said: “Every day we represent against licences where the local housing authority has regurgitated tens of different pieces of primary legislation as licence conditions. These are all pieces of existing legislation passed by government and each with their own specific enforcement regime.”
Breaching a licence condition is a strict-liability criminal offence. Courts can impose unlimited fines, while councils can issue civil penalties of up to £30,000 per condition breached – and keep the proceeds. Turtle said average fines run around £12,000 per breached condition.
Financial incentive questioned
The structure creates what Turtle describes as a financial incentive for councils. “Obviously the more things councils can stuff in the licence that can be breached, the more opportunities there are to issue civil financial penalties to asset-strip landlords’ properties for their own revenue budgets,” he said.
This echoes concerns raised when Westminster doubled its licensing enforcement team earlier this year, with some landlord groups questioning whether expanded enforcement serves tenant protection or council finances.
Landlord Licensing & Defence has persuaded some councils to adopt amended wording that prevents dual enforcement. The proposed clause states that where a condition repeats primary legislation, enforcement will proceed under that legislation rather than as a licence breach. Turtle is calling for all councils to adopt similar wording.
The government’s HMO licensing guidance does not explicitly address the duplication issue.
Editor’s view
Licence conditions should add protections, not multiply punishments. When councils copy-paste existing law into licences simply to create a second prosecution route, the system stops being about standards and starts being about revenue. Landlords deserve enforcement that is fair – not financially convenient for town halls.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 18 February 2026
Sources: Landlord Licensing & Defence, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Related reading: Selective Licensing: The Hidden Compliance Risk Catching Landlords Out
