Phil Turtle (pictured), property compliance expert at Landlord Licensing & Defence, has warned that the stakes are higher than ever for landlords who miss selected licensing deadlines.
Turtle said: “Forgetting to renew a selective licence isn’t just a slap on the wrist – it can be a financial catastrophe.
“I’ve seen landlords lose everything because they didn’t have a system in place to track compliance.
“One missed deadline can cost you £105,000, and if you’re operating through a limited company, that fine could double to £210,000.”
Turtle pointed to a London Borough of Waltham Forest case where a landlord faced £66,000 in penalties for failing to license a house split into two flats.
Turtle said: “The council hit the landlord’s limited company with £16,500 per flat and then fined him personally as the sole director another £16,500 per flat.
“That’s £66,000 for a simple oversight – and now he’s forced to sell the property to cover the cost.”
Landlords with houses in multiple occupation (HMO) have also been badly affected by missed renewals, according to Turtle.
Turtle added: “It started with a missed renewal while the landlord was on holiday. By the time the council got involved, the landlord was 18 months unlicensed, tenants were applying for Rent Repayment Orders, and the fines were unavoidable.”
In this case, the landlord was fined £12,500 per property for operating unlicensed, £17,000 for breaches of HMO Management Regulation 4, £8,500 for Regulation 7 breaches, and £12,500 for failing to comply with electrical safety regulations, totalling £105,000.
Turtle said councils had become self-funding operations, using fines to support further investigations.
He warned that landlords with limited companies could be fined both personally and at company level.
Turtle said if a landlord is the sole director of a company owning an HMO, they could face penalties twice over, turning a £105,000 fine into £210,000.
He said: “This isn’t about scaremongering – it’s about reality. The laws have been in place for years, and enforcement is only getting sharper.
“Don’t let a forgotten date cost you your livelihood.”
