What is a rent repayment order?
A rent repayment order is a legal order made by the court which requires a landlord to repay up to 2 years’ worth of rent.
A rent repayment order can be made where a landlord has committed certain offences.
Eligible offences for a rent repayment order
To be liable for a rent repayment order, the landlord must have committed one of the eligible offences listed below.
It is not necessary that the landlord has actually been convicted of one of these offences, although the applicant will need to demonstrate when applying that an eligible offence has been committed, providing evidence and proof ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’ (i.e. to the criminal standard of proof).
The eligible offences:
- Using or threatening violence to secure entry to a dwelling
- Unlawful eviction or harassment of occupiers
- Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground
- Letting or marketing a property within twelve months of using the ‘moving in’ or ‘selling’ grounds to secure eviction
- Ongoing breach of tenancy requirements (such as failing to issue a written tenancy agreement, attempting to let a property on a fixed term, and attempting to bring a tenancy to an end orally, outside of the prescribed legal procedure)
- Failure to comply with an improvement notice
- Failure to comply with a prohibition order
- Offences related to an unlicensed HMO
- Offences related to an unlicensed property
- Breach of a banning order
- Continuous breaches in relation to landlord or letting agent statutory redress schemes
- Providing false or misleading information to the national private rented sector database
- Continuous breaches in relation to the national private rented sector database.
Who is the rent repaid to?
Where the rent has been paid by or on behalf of the tenant, this is repaid to the tenant.
If the tenant was in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit housing costs during the period the rent repayment order relates to, the amount of housing benefit or universal credit housing costs awarded during this time will not be included in the rent repayment order, so that the tenant is only repaid their personal contribution to the rent.
For example, if a rent repayment order was granted for 12 months’ worth of rent, and:
- The rent was £750 per month
- The tenant received £350 per month in housing benefit or universal credit housing costs
- The tenant topped-up their housing benefit/universal credit by £400 per month to make up the rent
- There are no rent arrears.
Then, the tenant would receive a repayment of £4,800 (12 x £400).
How much rent can be repaid?
The maximum repayment that can be required under a rent repayment order is a sum of up to 2 years’ worth of rent.
If a rent repayment order relates to offences of:
- Violence to secure entry
- Illegal eviction or harassment
- Misuse of a possession ground
- Breach of a restriction regarding letting or marketing
- Provision of false or misleading information in respect of the private rented sector database.
Then the rent repayment order amount relates to rent paid by (or on behalf of) the tenant over a maximum period of 2 years before and ending on the date of the offence.
For other offences, the rent repayment order amount relates to rent paid by (or on behalf of) the tenant over a maximum period of 2 years during which the offence continued to be committed.
The amount of a rent repayment order cannot be more than the rent that was actually paid over the relevant period of 2 years.
For example, if a tenant was only a tenant for 6 months before being illegally evicted, and had 1 month of rent arrears, a rent repayment order could not be awarded for more than 5 months’ worth of rent.
Similarly, if a landlord failed to comply with an improvement notice, and then did comply with the improvement notice after 7 months, a rent repayment order could only be made for up to 7 months’ worth of rent (assuming no rent arrears).
In all cases, when making a rent repayment order, the court may reduce the amount which the order requires the landlord to repay by taking into account additional mitigating factors.
Who can a rent repayment order be made against?
A rent repayment order can be made against any of the following if they have committed an eligible offence:
- A tenant’s immediate landlord or licensor
- Any superior landlord in relation to the tenant’s housing
- A company landlord
- A director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a company landlord.
If a tenant is unsure who their landlord is because they only deal with a letting agent, they should refer to their tenancy agreement as it should still contain details of the landlord’s name and a contact address, or alternatively, request this information from the agent.
Whilst a rent repayment order can be made against any of the above, only a party who committed, or is found in some way responsible for an offence can be made liable for an order.
How to apply for a rent repayment order
Tenants can apply for a rent repayment order by completing Form RR01 (external link) and sending this to the First-tier Tribunal.
There is a nominal application fee payable to the tribunal, and further fees are payable if a hearing is required (not all decisions will require a hearing).
Successful applicants can recover their application fees, and request reimbursement of fees on their application from, in written submissions to the tribunal or at any hearing.
Applicants may be eligible for a waiver or reduction of fees through the Government’s Help with Fees scheme (external link).
Further advice and support
Additional information or support may be available from other organisations, such as: