Rogue landlords who commit serious housing offences should be fined a minimum of £30,000, council leaders have argued.
Local authorities can enforce fines of up to £30,000 for offences by private landlords, such as failing to license a property or not complying with an improvement notice.
However, there are no common sentencing guidelines on housing offences for magistrates, who base their decisions on how much a landlord says they can afford rather than the seriousness of the offence.
The Local Government Association (LGA) said the most serious cases, such as fire safety breaches, should lead to fines that at least match the highest level of a civil penalty.
Smith Square said this would raise standards and provide consistency across the courts.
LGA housing spokesman, Cllr Martin Tett, said: ‘Unfortunately, there is a minority of rogue landlords who give good landlords a bad name.
‘With more young people and families renting privately than ever before, we need to see reforms that will maintain and improve housing standards.
‘A key deterrent to rogue landlords would be for the Government to set common sentencing guidelines, which deliver consistency across the courts.
‘It is not right that the level of civil penalty could outweigh that which is handed out by magistrates.’