Improvement notice fines in England now reach £40,000

A missed improvement notice deadline in England can now cost a landlord £40,000. For offences on or after 1 May 2026, that is the maximum civil penalty a council may impose, with a recommended starting point of £25,000 (GOV.UK civil penalties guidance). An improvement notice is a formal council order to fix hazards by a stated date.

What happens if you miss an improvement notice deadline?

Failing to comply with an improvement notice by its deadline is an offence under section 30 of the Housing Act 2004 (Landlord Law Blog, 20 September 2026). The council can prosecute or impose a civil penalty, a fine issued without a court hearing, and in most cases the penalty is likelier. Section 30 also gives a defence where the person served had a reasonable excuse (legislation.gov.uk).

The money moved this year. A statutory instrument took the maximum financial penalty under section 249A of the Housing Act 2004 to £40,000 on 1 May 2026. Government guidance sets £25,000 as the recommended starting point for a section 30 breach, and councils must have regard to it (GOV.UK civil penalties guidance). Against a single HMO (house in multiple occupation) that is not a rounding error. Our free HMO valuation calculator will tell you what the block is worth first.

Jurisdiction matters. Improvement notices under the Housing Act 2004 extend to England and Wales (legislation.gov.uk). But the £40,000 maximum and £25,000 starting point come from guidance GOV.UK states applies to England. Landlords letting in Wales may wish to check the position there.

Late works and the section 30 offence

The case at the centre is Manaquel Company Ltd v London Borough of Lambeth [2026]. Lambeth LBC served an improvement notice over category 1 and category 2 hazards at an estate of 96 flats (Landlord Law Blog, 20 September 2026). Category 1 is the more serious band under the Housing Act 2004, set by a hazard's score against a prescribed threshold (legislation.gov.uk, section 2).

The landlord appealed. By the time the appeal was heard, almost two years later, the works had been carried out. The First-tier Tribunal, which hears appeals against council housing notices, found problems with the notice and Lambeth's evidence and quashed it. On the effect of the later works, though, the parties and the Tribunal both worked from the hearing-date position.

The Court of Appeal said that was the wrong approach. The question was whether the authority was wrong to serve the notice it did at the time it did. Later evidence can establish the position at service, but repairs done afterwards cannot make a properly served notice invalid.

Manaquel was not a civil penalty case. The Landlord Law Blog argues a similar split applies to section 30: the offence is committed once the deadline passes. Late works still count, because they end the non-compliance and support a revocation request. A dated repair file is cheap insurance, and the routine our business and systems guides are built around.

Can an improvement notice be varied or revoked?

Section 16(1) of the Housing Act 2004 requires the authority to revoke an improvement notice once satisfied its requirements have been complied with (legislation.gov.uk). That is a duty, not a favour. Once the works are done, asking the council for revocation is the step the Landlord Law Blog recommends.

Where the deadline cannot be met, the Landlord Law Blog advises contacting the authority straight away, explaining why, and asking it to vary the notice under section 16(4). The statute frames variation as something done with the agreement of the person served, or by altering when a suspended notice's suspension ends (legislation.gov.uk). Until written confirmation arrives, the original deadlines stand.

Speed still pays if a penalty is on the table. GOV.UK's civil penalties guidance lists how quickly the offender remedied the non-compliance among the factors councils might weigh. On an HMO I would read the notice against the licence conditions in one sitting, since licence terms vary sharply by council. Our property investment strategies hub covers how that feeds a hold decision.

If a penalty has already landed, the Landlord Law Blog says to take advice immediately. It lists four disputable points: valid service, compliance by the deadline, proof of the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and reasonable excuse. Our free landlord resources cover the paperwork side.

Key takeaways

• The maximum civil penalty for failing to comply with an improvement notice in England is £40,000 for offences on or after 1 May 2026 (GOV.UK civil penalties guidance).

• Government guidance sets £25,000 as the recommended starting point for a section 30 Housing Act 2004 breach.

• In Manaquel Company Ltd v London Borough of Lambeth [2026], the Court of Appeal held that a notice is judged on the position when it was served.

• Lambeth LBC's notice covered category 1 and category 2 hazards at an estate of 96 flats.

• Section 16(1) of the Housing Act 2004 requires a council to revoke an improvement notice once satisfied its requirements have been met.