UK Offence Report

Declaration to be included in applications for registration or a licence

regulation 10 of The Regulation of Private Rented Housing (Information, Periods and Fees for Registration and Licensing) (Wales) Regulations 2015

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

I/we understand that I/we commit an offence if I/we supply any information to the licensing authority in connection with any of its functions under Part

1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 that is false or misleading and which I/we know is false or misleading or am/are reckless as to whether it is false or misleading.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
an licensing authority
Conduct
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that an licensing authority meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 10?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Regulation of Private Rented Housing (Information, Periods and Fees for Registration and Licensing) (Wales) Regulations 2015.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
7 June 2015
In force from
7 July 2015
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations set out the information, periods and fees required for an application for registration and an application for a licence under Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (“the Act”). Part 1 of the Act relates to the Regulation of Private Rented Housing. It includes a requirement for most landlords of dwellings let, or to be let, under domestic tenancies, to register with the relevant designated licensing authority. Similarly, persons engaged in letting or managing such dwellings, are required to obtain a licence from the relevant designated licensing authority. Regulations 3 and 6 set out the periods within which a relevant designated licensing authority must determine an application for registration or a licence respectively. Regulations 4 and 7 set out the information which must be included in an application for registration or a licence respectively. Regulation 10 also prescribes a declaration that must be included in any application for registration or a licence. Regulations 5 and 8 set out the changes which must be notified to the relevant designated licensing authority in respect of a landlord who is registered or a person who is licensed respectively. Regulation 9 provides that the specified fees are to be determined by the relevant designated licensing authority. The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a Regulatory Impact Assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. The Impact Assessment prepared for the Act is relevant and a copy may be obtained from the Department of Housing, Welsh Government, Rhydycar Business Park, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source