The government has issued new guidance on why and how local councils can enter agency branches as part of enforcement of the Renters Rights Act.
The guidance – issued at the start of this weekend – says the Act contains powers for enforcement authorities to enter a rental sector business “without, and with, a warrant under section 118 and section 121”.
It continues: “You can enter a business premises at a reasonable time to request documents and or to seize evidence if you reasonably believe a relevant person is running a rental sector business there.
“… These powers of entry may not be used for premises that are wholly or mainly used as a home.
“You can only enter the premises to investigate if you suspect a breach or offence has been committed under the rented accommodation legislation and your suspicion is a reasonable one.
“You also need to be satisfied that your entry is necessary to require documents to be produced or to seize documents which are on the business premises and could help your investigation.”
The enforcement council must provide an occupier of the business premises with at least 24 hours’ written notice, although the occupier can waive the requirement to provide the full 24 hours’ notice and allow entry earlier if they wish.
The guidance to councils then says: “Once you have entered the business premises … you can ask for documents from a relevant person occupying the premises or someone acting on their behalf, at any reasonable time.
“You can ask for documents to try to determine whether there has been compliance with the rented accommodation legislation where you reasonably believe there has been non-compliance.
“You can only ask for documents related to the business for which the premises are occupied and to which the person you are asking has access.
“You can ask for documents if you think they may be needed as evidence. You can take copies of the documents produced.
“You can ask for the documents to be explained to you. If the document is electronic, you can require a copy of the document in a format that you can easily take away, for example, a hard copy.
“You cannot require the production of documents which are legally confidential, such as communications between a lawyer and their client.
“You can request documents even if the need for them relates to someone other than the relevant person who is required to provide them.”
Council officers can typically keep the documents for three months from the day they were seized. If the documents are needed for legal proceedings (related to why they were seized), they can be kept longer.
You can see the full updated and very detailed guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigatory-powers-guidance-for-renters-rights-act-2025/investigatory-powers-guidance-for-renters-rights-act-2025
