The Department for Work and Pensions has expanded its enforcement pilot to 41 local authorities in England, giving councils streamlined access to Universal Credit data needed to complete Rent Repayment Order applications. The department says the scaled-up scheme will better protect around 400,000 households receiving housing support. Published on 20 December 2025, the announcement follows a three‑council trial.
Rent Repayment Orders are legal orders issued by the First-tier Tribunal requiring landlords who have committed certain offences to pay back rent to tenants or public funds. Offences include operating without a required licence, failing to comply with improvement notices, and illegal eviction or harassment. The pilot aims to accelerate evidence-gathering by allowing councils to verify rent paid via Universal Credit more efficiently.
One of the pilot areas, Camden in north London, reports nearly £100,000 already recovered through the data-sharing route alongside a fraud referral. Ministers state the intention is to remove public money from non-compliant operators and redeploy it into enforcement activity.
The expansion covers a broad geographic mix. In London it includes Barnet, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Waltham Forest, Havering, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Enfield, with additional authorities across the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, North East, South West, South East, East of England and West Midlands.
The statutory framework has been strengthened by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which amends the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The Act doubles the maximum period of rent that can be ordered from 12 months to 24 months, enables orders against superior landlords, introduces joint and several liability where multiple landlords are involved, and confirms that local authorities can be paid in respect of relevant Universal Credit awards linked to rent.
Timing matters for enforcement teams. Government guidance confirms the new RRO rules apply to offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, while offences committed entirely before that date remain under the previous regime. Separately, the government’s implementation roadmap indicates an initial commencement of investigatory and penalty-related provisions on 27 December 2025, with further tenancy reforms brought in by subsequent regulations.
For local authorities, the pilot’s Universal Credit data share is designed to shorten case-building and support recovery where public funds have contributed to rent. The department highlights Enfield-home to nearly 30,000 households receiving housing support-as among the areas now covered by the expanded scheme.
Funding arrangements are explicit: government guidance states councils may retain money received through Rent Repayment Orders provided it is used for private rented sector enforcement functions. That creates a direct incentive to reinvest proceeds in further compliance activity.
For landlords, exposure increases once the Act’s RRO changes commence. Qualifying offences can result in orders of up to two years’ rent, and liability can extend to superior landlords and, in company cases, relevant officers. Maintaining required licences, responding promptly to improvement notices and ensuring safe conditions reduce legal risk under the expanded regime.
Ministers frame the expansion as improving value for money and standards for renters on housing support, while Camden’s early results indicate tangible recoveries. The campaign group Justice for Tenants argues that shifting costs onto offending landlords can help finance local enforcement. Taken together with the new statutory powers due from May 2026, councils now have a clearer route to deter non-compliance and reclaim public funds.