What is a Banning Order?
Where a landlord or property agent commits a certain offence, they may be banned from the property industry.
A banning order is an order by the First-tier Tribunal that bans a landlord from:
- Letting housing in England;
- Engaging in English letting agency work;
- Engaging in English property management work; or
- Doing two or more of those things
Banning order offences are listed in the Schedule to the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Banning Order Offences) Regulations 2018 SI 2018/216 and include:
- Unlawful eviction or harassment, under s.1 Protection from Eviction Act 1977
- using or threatening violence for securing entry into premises, under s.6 Criminal Law Act 1977
- failure to comply with an improvement notice, under s.30 Housing Act 2004
- failure to comply with a prohibition order, under s.32 Housing Act 2004
- having control of, or managing, an unlicensed house in multiple occupation, or breaching a condition of a licence, under s.72 Housing Act 2004 (as amended by para 3 Sch. 9 Housing and Planning Act 2016)
- having control of, or managing, an unlicensed property, or breaching a condition of a licence,
- under s.95 Housing Act 2004 (as amended by para 4 Sch. 9 Housing and Planning Act 2016)
- failure to comply with HMO management regulations, under s.234 Housing Act 2004
- failure to comply with overcrowding notices or fire safety regulations (HMOs only), under s.139 Housing Act 2004 and Art.32 Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
- breach of gas safety regulations, under s.33 Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
- breach of right to rent provisions (criminal prosecutions only), under ss.33A and 33B Immigration Act 2014 (as amended by s.39 Immigration Act 2016)
- requiring a ‘relevant person’ to make a prohibited payment (criminal offence only), under s.12 Tenant Fees Act 2019.
Who are banning orders aimed at?
Rogue landlords who flout their legal obligations and rent out accommodation which is substandard. We expect banning orders to be used for the most serious offenders.
Who applies for a banning order?
A local housing authority has the power to apply for a banning order.
Who makes a banning order?
A banning order may be made by the First-tier Tribunal following an application made by a local housing authority.
The Government has issued non-binding guidance (‘the guidance’) around banning orders. This sets out factors a local authority might want to consider in deciding whether to apply for a banning order and, if so, the length of the order it will apply for. [1]
The local authority must first serve a notice on the landlord or agent stating:
- why it is applying for a banning order
- the length of order it will apply for
- that s/he has at least 28 days to make representations in their defence.
The notice must be served within six months of the conviction for the banning order offence.
After considering any representations the authority must apply to a First-tier Tribunal.
[1] Banning Order Offences under the Housing and Planning Act 2016: Guidance for local housing authorities, MHCLG, April 2018.
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