Tenant Fees Act 2019

25 General duties of the lead enforcement authority

(1) It is the duty of the lead enforcement authority to oversee the operation of the relevant letting agency legislation.

(2) It is the duty of the lead enforcement authority to issue guidance to enforcement authorities about the exercise of their functions under this Act.

(3) It is the duty of the lead enforcement authority to provide information and advice to relevant authorities in England and to the public in England about the operation of the relevant letting agency legislation, in such form and manner as it considers appropriate.

(4) The lead enforcement authority may, amongst other things, disclose information to a relevant authority for the purposes of enabling that authority to determine whether there has been a breach of, or an offence under, the relevant letting agency legislation.

(5) Subsections (6) to (8) apply if the lead enforcement authority is not the Secretary of State.

(6) The Secretary of State may direct the lead enforcement authority to issue guidance about the operation of the relevant letting agency legislation to relevant authorities in England and may give directions as to the content of that guidance.

(7) A direction may relate to all or particular kinds of relevant authorities and may make different provision for different kinds of authority.

(8) It is the duty of the lead enforcement authority to keep under review and from time to time advise the Secretary of State about—

(a) social and commercial developments in England and elsewhere relating to tenancies, the carrying on of letting agency work and related activities, and

(b) the operation of the relevant letting agency legislation.

(9) In this section and section 26 “relevant authority” means—

(a) in relation to this Act, an enforcement authority;

(b) in relation to Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a local weights and measures authority in England;

(c) in relation to an order under section 83(1) or 84(1) of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, a person on whom functions in relation to enforcement of the order are conferred;

(d) in relation to regulations under section 133, 134 or 135 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, a local authority in England (as defined in section 135 of that Act).