Renata Del Luongo recently represented a residential landlord in the First Tier (Property Chamber) Tribunal in an application for a Rent Repayment Order which had been issued by former occupiers of a property which he was the managing agent of. The alleged offence was failing to obtain an HMO Licence for the property.
What is a Rent Repayment Order (RRO)?
An RRO requires repayment of rent or housing benefit or the housing costs element of universal credit in respect of either a tenancy or a licence, by a Landlord who has committed an offence as set out in Section 40(3) of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
The offences are:
Using/threatening violence for security entry into premises
Illegal eviction or harassment
Failure to comply with an improvement notice
Failure to comply with a prohibition order
Breach of banning order
Having control of, or managing an unlicensed property
Having control of, or managing an unlicensed HMO.
How is an Application Made?
An application may either be made by the occupier (a tenant or licensee) or a local housing authority and is made against the immediate landlord, which could be a managing agent, as opposed to the freehold owner of the property.
In the case of an occupier, the offence complained of must have been committed in the period of 12 months ending on the day which the application was made.
What will the Tribunal consider?
The First-tier Tribunal, when determining matters must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the landlord has committed the offence complained of. It is not necessary for the landlord to have been convicted of any offence for an application for an RRO to succeed.
The amount of any RRO must relate to the amount of rent or benefits paid for a maximum period of 12 months during which the landlord was committing the offences.
When determining the appropriate amount, the First-tier Tribunal will determine the whole rent for the period, deduct from this any payments of utility bills that were included in the rent. They will then consider the seriousness of the offence and whether any deductions should be made.
They must also take into account the financial circumstances of the landlord and the conduct of both the landlord and the occupiers. They will also consider whether the Landlord has been convicted of any offence.
Whilst the maximum amount that can be awarded is the full rent paid during the period when the offence was committed, the Tribunal does not have to award this and indeed the full award should only be made in the most serious of cases. The Tribunal will consider the seriousness of the offence committed – a failure to obtain an HMO licence has been found not to be one of the most serious RRO Offences.
The First-tier Tribunal, having heard all of the evidence, have indicated that their decision will be made within 6 weeks of the date of the hearing.
