Agents hit with record licensing fines says PropTech firm

London letting agents and landlords have so far been hit with more than £900,000 in fines in the first half of 2023 alone.

Geospatial technology company Kamma, which monitors compliance fines in the private rental sector, claims 2023 is shaping up to be a record breaking year. 

Local authorities in Greater London have issued more than £9m in fines in total, with £909,550 dished out since December 2022. Fines so far this year are close to totalling fines recorded throughout 2022 as a whole.

Over 20 new schemes and consultations have launched throughout the UK in 2023, five of which are in London. New London schemes include Ealing, Newham and Kensington and Chelsea. 

Enforcement is expected to continue to rise as Redbridge, Brent and other councils plan to launch new schemes later this year. Now, four in five London boroughs have some form of additional or selective licensing in place. 

Camden council continues to top the council enforcement list in terms of number of cases brought forward, followed by Newham and Waltham Forest. Together they have brought forward over 1,000 cases against landlords and agents, with the average fine issued by Waltham Forest surpassing £8,000, nearly twice that of Camden.

Kamma chief executive Orla Shields says: “As both the number of new schemes and enforcement rise in the capital, it is expected that fines will surpass the £9.4 million mark by the end of the year. Smart letting agents protect landlords, and their pockets, by ensuring that their compliance is watertight, removing the risk of both financial and reputational losses.”