Decision - Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy

Brighton and Hove Cabinet Decided 23 Apr 2026 · effective 2 May 2026 approved Key decision GET /api/coverage

Decision maker

Cabinet

Report author

Diane Hughes

Published

24 Apr 2026

Reference

7609

As published

the council's own words, unedited

This report seeks approval of the proposed enforcement policy

1) Cabinet agrees that the amended Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy, as set out in Appendix 1, is adopted from 1 May 2026. 2) Cabinet delegates authority to Corporate Director Homes & Adult Social Care in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to make such amendments to the policy as may be required following adoption as outlined in paragraph 3.6 of this report.

Parsed from the document

gpt-5.6-luna-2026-07-09 · 44404/2011 tokens · 14819ms · parsed 8 Sep 2026 11:36

Everything below was read out of a PDF by a model It is useful and it is not authoritative. The document it came from is linked in the rail, and where the two disagree the document is right.

Brighton & Hove City Council’s policy sets out how it will regulate private rented housing, houses in multiple occupation and empty homes. It explains the council’s approach to advice, inspections, licensing, enforcement notices, prosecutions, civil penalties and other action to protect tenants and improve housing conditions across the city.

Recommendation

Adopt and apply the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy, with all officers taking the policy, relevant legislation and guidance into account when making enforcement decisions.

Financial impact

No overall budget or contract amount stated. The policy specifies potential civil penalties and penalty charges, including penalties of up to £40,000 for certain breaches.

Ward affected

city-wide

Stakeholders named

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Private tenantsPrivate landlordsLetting and managing agentsOwners of empty homesRegistered social landlordsHousing providersHomeownersTenants of social housingLocal communitiesVulnerable occupants

Next steps

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All officers must take the policy, legislation and guidance into account when making enforcement decisions.
The council will apply the policy to advice, inspections, licensing, enforcement notices, prosecutions, civil penalties and other housing enforcement action.
The policy will be reviewed annually and amended for changes in legislation, corporate policy, official guidance or local needs.

Precedents

not built

"Decided elsewhere" is not built Finding the same decision in other councils needs semantic matching over decision text, which is part of the search rewrite. Until then, the council's own decisions list is the way through.