Advice for New Landlords
Housing Enforcement
The Health and Environment Enforcement Services are responsible for protecting people’s health, safety and wellbeing as well as the environment and amenities.
Our regulatory focus, through its various compliance and consenting activities and functions, is based around four central principles:
- We will ensure that we enforce the law in a fair, equitable and consistent manner
- We will work to assist businesses and others in meeting their legal obligations
- Our focus will be on prevention rather than cure, where appropriate
- We will take action against those who breach the law or act irresponsibly
The Health and Environment Enforcement Policy provides a guide to how our regulatory functions are exercised, which includes decisions made by the Private Sector Housing team on enforcement matters under the Housing Act 2004 and other legislation applicable to the regulation of the Private Housing Sector.
Civil Penalty Procedure
The City of Lincoln Council has also published a Civil Penalty Procedure to guide our decisions when imposing a civil penalty as opposed to prosecution for certain offences under the Housing Act 2004, and where a landlord or property agent has breached a banning order under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
Section 126 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 provides powers that permit local authorities to impose a civil penalty of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution for a range of offences under the Housing Act 2004. Where the City of Lincoln Council decide to issue a civil penalty as opposed to taking a prosecution, our decisions will be guided by the Civil Penalty Procedure.