{"id":364208,"date":"2025-08-22T08:42:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/364208\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T08:42:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:42:21","slug":"birmingham-city-council-issues-30k-fine-warning-to-landlords-over-their-properties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/364208\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham City Council issues \u00a330k fine warning to landlords over their properties"},"content":{"rendered":"

The council is taking action against landlords who have broken the rules\"BirminghamBirmingham Council House in Victoria Square(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Birmingham City Council has told landlords they must act urgently to apply for a relevant licence or face fines of up to \u00a330,000 for each unlicensed property.<\/p>\n

In June 2023, the authority launched a property licensing programme which it said was an effort to improve the quality and safety of rental homes in the city.<\/p>\n

The council has been visiting properties it thinks might not have a licence and has taken action against landlords who have broken the rules – leading to a total of \u00a3450,000 in fines so far.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Law on UK households removing St George’s Cross flags put up in your street<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Tenants were already seeing the benefits, the council said, as inspections revealed many instances where crucial safety features, such as smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, were missing.<\/p>\n

\"BirminghamBirmingham Council House in Victoria Square(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the council said a routine inspection saved the lives of a family of four from carbon monoxide poisoning.<\/p>\n

Landlords who do not hold a licence can be fined and they may also have to pay back rent to tenants through Rent Repayment Orders.<\/p>\n

These orders let tenants in unlicensed homes get back up to 12 months of rent from their landlords. This will go up to 24 months when the Renter Reform Bill becomes law.<\/p>\n

Tenants are also protected from no-fault evictions, as landlords without the correct licence cannot serve valid Section 21 notices.<\/p>\n

The council has encouraged tenants to check the licensing status of their rented property using the council\u2019s public register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s licensing programme includes Selective Licensing in 25 areas, Additional Licensing for smaller shared houses with three to four people or different families, and Section 257 HMO licensing across the city.<\/p>\n

These new rules build on the HMO licensing that has been required since 2006. Landlords can visit the council website to apply for the relevant property license<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cllr Nicky Brennan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, said: “The rules have been made clear, and it is the responsibility of landlords to take immediate action to avoid facing penalties.<\/p>\n

“I am pleased to say that the new licensing schemes have raised the bar for private rental housing in Birmingham<\/a>, and in some cases have even proven to be life-saving.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, around one in four of our compliance inspections have required landlords to take action to improve conditions for their tenants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis translates to real-life issues such as dozens of properties needing urgent repairs to fix leaky roofs, mouldy bedrooms, and the absence of essential safety features like smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms. These improvements are crucial for ensuring tenant safety and comfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy enforcing stricter regulations, the council is creating a safer and more secure rental market for all residents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The council is taking action against landlords who have broken the rulesBirmingham Council House in Victoria Square(Image: Nick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,984,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-364208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115071532853437158","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}