Rent repayment order.

A Rent Repayment Order (RRO) can be made by the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT). An RRO is a way for tenants plus former tenants residing in the private rented area to reclaim a maximum of twelve months rent that has been paid to a landlord. The Housing and Planning Act 2016 allows tenants to apply for an RRO if a landlord has committed an offence or if the landlord has had a court conviction. The tenant will need to establish that the landlord has committed an offence or has been convicted.

All HMO’s need a licence. Tenants can apply for an RRO as soon as they can as the amount you can claim could diminish over time. The RRO application must be made within 12 months of the landlord’s offence. The local council will notify the tenant if the landlord has committed an offence or conviction. The tenant can then apply to the FTT for an RRO.

The landlord has no right to evict you because you are applying for a RRO. However, is maybe better to wait until you move out of the property before the application. The laws guarding your tenancy will still apply and there are extra-legal restrictions on evictions by landlords who are running unlicensed properties.

Please note: Only private tenants and the council can apply for RROs, this power is not available to tenants of housing associations, council tenants or arms-length management organisations.

The tenant cannot claim rent paid by universal credit/housing benefit, this will be claimed by the local council.

If a tenant receiving housing universal credit/housing benefit  applies for a rent repayment order the money will be granted to the council.

Does the house I rent or recently rented require a licence?

Mandatory HMO licence

This applies to large HMOs which are occupied by 5 or more unrelated tenants who share facilities such as kitchens, bathrooms & toilets. It also includes properties with flats that do not have all amenities behind their own lockable front door.

Additional  HMO licence

This includes all other HMOs including flats in multiple occupations which are occupied by three or more persons who form more than one household. The number of storeys does not matter. This includes buildings that have been converted into self-contained flats and those that do not meet the standards of Building Regulations 1991 (or later).

Examples of these are:

Bedsits, shared houses or flats in multiple occupation (FMOs), resident landlord with more than two lodgers, buildings that have been converted into self-contained flats or studios

When can I apply for a RRO?

You can only apply for an RRO if you can prove that your landlord has neglected to comply with the law including Housing Act 2004 and Housing and Planning Act 2016 this is outlined below:

Your landlord has rented a HMO without a licence, Your landlord has failed to control or manage an unlicensed HMO, Your landlord has failed to comply with enforcement action (Improvement notice, Prohibition notice, Civil penalty notice, Breach of a banning order). You have been evicted illegally or been harassed by your landlord. Your landlord has used violence to secure entry to a property.

How quickly should I apply for an RRO?

Tenants may make an application for an RRO as soon as possible as the total amount they can claim diminishes over time. Your application has to be made inside of 12 months from the date of when the offence  was committed by the landlord.

The rent cannot be reclaimed for any period after: the final period of rental payment if the tenant has left. The landlord has sold the house or flat. If the landlord has applied to the council for a licence.

Can one tenant act on behalf of all tenants?

If a single tenant would like to act for all of the tenants in making an application for the RRO the other tenants would need to sign a declaration stating the name of the tenant that they are appointing to act for them. Alternatively the person who acts for the tenant could be a person from the organisations mentioned below or a relative or friend of a tenant. The tenant must be able to trust the person they nominate to act on their behalf.

How much rent can I recover?

A Tenant can apply to recover the rent paid for a duration of up to a max of twelve months You may ask to reclaim the rent for the full twelve months if you lived in the HMO and paid rent to the same landlord throughout this period.

However the period for reclaim of the rent will end earlier if you have moved away, if the landlord has changed, or if the landlord has applied to the local council for a licence.

You maynot claim back any rent paid by universal credit/housing benefit.

The tenant will need to be able to prove that they paid the amount of rent that they are claiming and who they paid it to.

When you apply for the RRO you will need to to prove that you have paid all the rent to the landlord of the period you are claiming for. This will normally show in your bank statements. If you were paying cash then you should provide a rent book. You will also need to provide a copy of your assured shorthold tenancy agreement. If you do not have a copy then you will need to explain what type of agreement you had with the Landlord

What is the hearing like?

The hearing at the FTT is very similar to a court hearing, but it is less formal. The case is heard by two or three members of the panel. The panel chairman will introduce themselves and explain to proceedings. You may ask the chairman questions at any time during the proceedings if you need. The panel members may ask the tenants and the landlord questions throughout the case and take notes.

All tenants who are making the claim will need to be present. It is recommended that two or more tenants are at the hearing, just in case they may need to answer any questions regarding the rent,  or any issues that have arisen about the behaviour of the landlord.

The panel will never make their decision at the hearing. A written decision will be emailed or sent in the post. This may take up to 6 weeks.

The landlord or tenants may appeal to the Lands Tribunal against a RRO, including the amount of money to be repaid, but they apply within 28 days. If the appeal to the Lands Tribunal involves a hearing the same tenants who were at the FTT hearing, will need to be there, the procedures are similar to those for the FTT.

How much rent can be repaid?

The FTT must order the maximum amount of rent up to 12 months is repaid when the landlord has been convicted of the offence to which the RRO applies, even if the tenant has applied for a lesser amount.

If the landlord has not been convicted but committed an offence the FTT will determine the amount of rent to be repaid in accordance to the following:

If the tenant has been evicted illegally or been harassed by the landlord the FTT will take this into account the 12 month period before the offence (12 months must end with the date of the offence).

The RRO must related to rent paid by the tenant in respect of a period not exceeding 12 months where the landlord has committed an offence.

The Tribunal has to decide on an amount they consider to be reasonable for the RRO, this decision will be based on the:

How will the money be paid?

The FTT will normally set a date by which the RRO money must be paid to the tenant. The FTT may agree to the landlord paying the money in instalments depending on their financial situation.

Conclusion

Tenants and former tenants can reclaim up to twelve months rent in a RRO where the tenant can prove the landlord has committed an offence or been convicted. Tenants should apply for an RRO as soon as possible after an offence has been committed or RRO for housing benefits/universal credit, as in most cases the amount of rent that can be reclaimed will reduce as time goes on.