Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

18 Financial penalties

(1) An enforcement authority may impose a financial penalty on a person if the authority is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person has breached a leasehold house restriction.

(2) The amount of a penalty for a breach is to be such amount as the authority determines but—

(a) is not to be less than £500, and

(b) is not to be more than £30,000.

(3) Conduct within any one of the following paragraphs is to be regarded as a single breach of one leasehold house restriction—

(a) entering into an agreement to grant a lease in breach of section 1(1) and subsequently granting the lease in breach of that provision;

(b) entering into an agreement to assign a lease in breach of section 1(2) and subsequently assigning the lease in breach of that provision;

(c) entering into an agreement to grant a lease in breach of section 10(1)(a) and subsequently granting the lease in breach of section 10(1)(b).

Subsection (5) is to be read in accordance with this subsection.

(4) A person who makes marketing material available in relation to the same lease on more than one occasion in breach of section 9(2) is to be regarded as committing only one breach of that provision.

(5) The following are to be regarded as separate breaches—

(a) breaches by the same person of the same leasehold house restriction in relation to different leases, and

(b) breaches by the same person of different leasehold house restrictions in relation to the same lease,

and accordingly an enforcement authority may impose a separate penalty in relation to each breach (or may impose a single penalty of an amount equal to the total of the amounts of the penalties that could have been separately imposed).

(6) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend an amount for the time being specified in subsection (2) to reflect a change in the value of money.

(7) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (6) is subject to the negative procedure.

(8) Schedule 2 contains further provision about financial penalties under this section.