Councils have started using their new information powers far sooner than most landlords and agents expected. What a Section 114 notice asks for, who can receive one, and why being able to prove compliance now matters as much as compliance itself.
The Renters' Rights Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. Most of the attention since then has gone to the headline changes: the end of Section 21, the reshaped possession grounds, the move to periodic tenancies. Far less has been said about enforcement, and enforcement is the part that is now landing on doormats.
Early signs
I have spoken with several local authorities about how they are gearing up. Some have recruited additional housing enforcement officers, and some are funding those posts from existing budgets on the expectation that the penalties the teams collect will pay for them in later years. That tells you how they expect the next few years to go.
In the fortnight before this article was written I acted for several clients who had received formal information requests from council housing enforcement teams. Some were requisitions under section 16D of the Housing Act 1988; others were notices under section 114 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. This is not a future risk. It is happening.
What a Section 114 notice is
Section 114 allows an authorised officer of a local housing authority to require information from a "relevant person" where the information relates to the authority's housing enforcement functions. The definition of a relevant person is wide. It catches anyone who, within the previous twelve months, held an interest in the property, acted on the landlord's behalf, licensed the property, or marketed it to create a residential tenancy. Landlords are not the only recipients. Letting agents, managing agents and anyone else involved in letting the property can receive one too.
What councils are asking for
A notice I reviewed recently required the following within fourteen days:
- All tenancy agreements in force from 1 May 2026.
- Identification for the owners and managers of the property.
- Evidence of how rent is collected.
- The electrical installation condition report.
- Gas safety certificates.
- Proof that the Government's Renters' Rights information sheet was served on the tenant.
The last item deserves attention. Councils are specifically asking for evidence that the information sheet was served by 31 May 2026, and when and how it was served. Government guidance says that if it was not served in time it should be provided as soon as possible, and that evidence of service should be kept. A landlord who served it but cannot prove it is, for enforcement purposes, in much the same position as one who did not.
What happens if you ignore the notice
Under section 131 it is an offence to fail to comply with a properly issued notice without reasonable excuse, and a separate offence to knowingly or recklessly provide information that is false or misleading. The notices I have seen gave fourteen days. They should be treated as the formal demands they are and answered, accurately, within the deadline. If the deadline cannot be met, that conversation needs to happen with the council before it passes, not after.
What the councils say their priorities are
The head of housing at a large London borough told me that enforcement will not stop at landlords: letting agents and others who take a financial benefit from a tenancy are in scope where that is appropriate. The same council intends to take a balanced and proportionate approach, working with landlords who are genuinely trying to comply rather than reaching straight for penalties. That is reassuring as far as it goes, but the volume of information requests already in circulation shows that the investigative powers are being used in earnest, and the speed of this first wave has surprised almost everyone.
Getting ready for scrutiny
Every landlord and agent should now be able to produce, quickly and in order, the tenancy agreements, the gas and electrical certificates, the rent records, the evidence that the prescribed documents were served, and proof that the information sheet was given to each tenant who needed one. Under this Act, being able to demonstrate compliance may matter as much as compliance itself. The time to review procedures and complete the records is before the notice arrives, because fourteen days is not long to reconstruct a paper trail.
Discuss your property matter
Tell the team what has happened, what you would like to achieve and whether there is an approaching deadline.