In an important case for councils and PRS landlords the Upper Tier Tribunal (UTT) has allowed an appeal by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council after the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) invalidated a £21,000 civil penalty imposed on a private rented sector HMO landlord.

The Upper Tier Tribunal has dismissed a private landlord's appeal against a banning order imposed by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) on behalf the London Borough of Newham Council.

The landlord's appeal was against the decision of the council to issue her with a selective licence that lasted only 12 months on the basis that her property was previously rented out without a licence.

The Bill is scheduled to go through its next legislative stage in the House of Commons today (with a planned protest by renters' groups outside Parliament this evening).

The landlord was convicted of 4 Housing Act offences at Peterlee Magistrates, including failure to apply for licences to operate 2 rental properties in the Horden area.

Sheffield City Council has obtained a 10 year banning order against a PRS landlord who it says "has a long history of operating and managing extremely poor quality housing."

The recently built 2 tower development, on the south bank of the River Thames, includes one block of a 'stepped design' comprising 23, 11, 9 and 6 storeys, and has an estimated 204 households in occupation.

Energy UK, 'The voice of the energy industry', has joined a chorus of disapproval expressed over the Prime Minister's scrapping of, amongst other targets, domestic energy efficiency targets planned for the PRS.

The CMA, one of whose purposes is to tackle unfair market practices, has been investigating the private rented sector and has raised concerns about the functioning of the PRS in a recent report this month.

Described as "the biggest shakeup of civil penalties since 2014 the fine per occupier rises from £1000 to "up to £10,000 per occupier" for a first offence.