What do letting agents need to know about the new investigatory powers for local councils
December 19, 2025
Although Phase one roll out of the Renters’ Rights Act commences on 1st May 2026, anyone who’s downloaded our Timeline and Checklist document will be aware that some elements of the changes come into effect much sooner, and agents and landlords need to prepare for them. On the 27th of December 2025, changes will come into effect which give local councils more investigatory power across the industry.
Why are the changes being brought in?
These changes are being made as part of the Renters’ Rights Act, to give greater power to local councils when investigating suspected breaches and imposing penalties for committed breaches. This means that if a local council officer suspects any landlord or letting agent of breaking certain rules, they’ll be more easily able to look into this and act on it.
What is changing?
All of the below powers can only be exercised if there is a suspected breach or offence.
Powers to enter a business premises
- Authorised local council officers will be able to enter a letting agent’s premises at a reasonable time either with a warrant or at least 24 hours’ written warning.
- They are allowed to take documents and devices
- For a ‘non-routine inspection’ (this is when it is not reasonably practical to give notice or an officer believes giving notice would defeat the purpose of the visit), notice is not needed.
Powers to enter a residential tenancy
- Authorised local council officers will be able to enter a letting agent’s premises at a reasonable time either with a warrant or at least 24 hours’ written warning.
- They are allowed to take photos and recordings.
- Notice must be given to the tenants and anyone who has an interest in the property.
Requesting information
- When investigating, officers can request information from anyone who has acted as a landlord, agent, licensor or marketer for the relevant property within the past 12 months.
- Written notice must be given, but if the information or a reasonable excuse is not given by the date they set, officers can apply for a court order.
Council tax, housing benefit and tenancy deposit information
- This can be used to check if the property needs an HMO license, whether there are too many people living in the property and whether several Housing Benefit claims are being made.
- It can also now support enforcement around various legislation including illegal eviction, harassment, correct licensing and property standards, compliance with redress schemes and new powers and legislation introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act.
Client Money Protection schemes
- Local authorities will also be enforcing client money protection (CMP) schemes regulations.
- They will be able to investigate whether an agent is a member of a CMP scheme.
How does this affect letting agents?
There’s going to be an increased likelihood of visits from local council officers, with short notice. There’s also the possibility of visits with no notice in specific circumstances.
Councils will also have more data available to them to check and compile evidence of non-compliance and can request information and data from agents.
However, this change does also lead to an increased burden on local authority enforcement teams, who need to recruit and train enforcement officers. Therefore, even though the government has promised extra funding for this, the extent & speed the industry will experience these additional enforcement activities coming into play, is an unknown and is likely to vary depending on the local authority.
What do agents need to do?
Letting agents need to ensure that record-keeping, data and licenses are all up to date and compliant with all regulations, including those coming in as part of the Renters’ Rights Act.
It’s important to ensure that your CMP scheme, redress scheme membership and professional body memberships are all in date, correctly displayed and documented.
You should also make sure all employees are aware of the new rules and the fact that they’re enforced from December 27th 2025.
It’s also vital that you make sure your landlords are aware and prepared for these changes. Many landlords may believe that no Renters’ Rights legislation comes in until May, so may be caught off guard by the local council’s new investigatory powers.
What does it mean for the industry?
As we already know, the Renters’ Rights Act will significantly change the lettings industry throughout the next decade as rules and regulations are phased in and this is just the beginning of that.
Most agents and landlords in the industry act compliantly and keep good records of things, they shouldn’t be affected too much by this new legislation – although it is an opportunity for them to make sure that all records and data are organised.
