The responsible local housing authority may impose a financial penalty on a person if satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that the person's conduct amounts to an offence under section 21(1).
In this section "responsible local housing authority" means the local housing authority for the area in which the housing to which the conduct relates is situated.
Only one financial penalty under this section may be imposed in respect of the same conduct unless subsection (4) allows another penalty to be imposed.
If a breach continues for more than 6 months, a financial penalty may be imposed for each additional 6 month period for the whole or part of which the breach continues.
The amount of a financial penalty imposed under this section is to be determined by the authority imposing it, but must not be more than £30,000.
The responsible local housing authority may not impose a financial penalty in respect of any conduct amounting to an offence under section 21(1) if—
Schedule 1 deals with—
The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about how local housing authorities are to deal with financial penalties recovered.
The Secretary of State may by regulations amend the amount specified in subsection (5) to reflect changes in the value of money.
A local housing authority must have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State about the exercise of its functions under this section or Schedule 1.