Disrepair

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (Section 11)

The cornerstone repair-obligation statute for residential lets in England and Wales. Section 11 implies into every short-term residential tenancy a landlord obligation to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property, and to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and water heating. Cannot be contracted out of. Breach is the basis for tenant disrepair claims, and Section 11 is what actually bites on a private landlord today — Awaab’s Law SLA enforcement is a social-sector regime the Renters Rights Act 2025 carries the power to extend to the PRS.

Dilapidations

Damage or disrepair beyond fair wear and tear that a tenant is responsible for at the end of a tenancy — for example burns, stains, broken fittings or unauthorised alterations. A landlord can propose deposit deductions for dilapidations, but must evidence them and cannot charge to improve the property beyond its original condition.

Decent Homes Standard (DHS)

A government standard for minimum housing quality: free of Category 1 HHSRS hazards, in a reasonable state of repair, with reasonably modern facilities and reasonable thermal comfort. It currently applies to social housing. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 provides the power to extend it to the private rented sector, but the regulations have not been made — the Government’s implementation roadmap proposes 2035 or 2037, so it is not a duty on private landlords today.

Article 4 Direction

A planning tool councils use under article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 to remove permitted-development rights, most commonly the right to convert a single-family home (Use Class C3) into a small HMO (Use Class C4) without planning permission. In an Article 4 area, every C3 → C4 conversion needs a full planning application, and operating without it can trigger an enforcement notice, a planning contravention notice or a refusal of HMO licence.

Banning Order

A court order under Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 banning a person convicted of certain housing offences from letting property, engaging in lettings agency work or holding an HMO licence. Triggered by a banning-order offence (Schedule 1 of the Act): includes serious housing-condition offences, illegal eviction and unlawful HMO operation. A banned landlord is added to the national database of rogue landlords and breach of the order is itself a criminal offence with up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment.

Civil Penalty Notice

A financial penalty up to £30,000 a local housing authority can impose as an alternative to criminal prosecution under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, the Housing Act 2004 (HMO offences) and various tenancy offences. Common triggers: failure to comply with an Improvement Notice, breach of HMO licensing, unlawful eviction, breach of selective licensing or letting an unsafe property. The landlord can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal within 28 days; unpaid penalties are recoverable in the County Court.