Tenants and local authorities (where the rent has been paid by universal credit) can apply to the Tribunal for a rent repayment order against the landlord if the landlord has committed certain offences specified in section 40 of the HPA 2016. The Supreme Court in Rakusen v Jepsen [2023] UKSC 9 held that a rent repayment order cannot be made against a superior landlord. The amendments in this section mean that superior as well as immediate landlords can be liable for a rent repayment order if the superior landlord committed the offence. The maximum amount payable is doubled from 12 months to two years’ rent to account for longer periods of non-compliance and to ensure that rent repayment orders have a stronger deterrent effect. The amendments in this section ensure that rent paid in advance and paid on behalf of the tenant can be included in the Tribunal’s assessment of the amount due under the rent repayment order.
Example: Rent repayment order against a superior landlord
The owner of a property (O) enters into an agreement to let their property to a company (C) for £2,000 a month. C in turn lets the property to tenants (T), from whom it receives £3,000 a month. After 18 months, following complaints by T to the landlord C about the condition of the property, O sends a series of messages and then makes doorstep appearances demanding that T leave and threatening violence if T do not. T leave the property and seek a rent repayment order against O in relation to an offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The Tribunal makes a rent repayment order in favour of T for the full 18 months’ rent they have paid.
Part 4: Enforcement Chapter 1 – Sanctions Section 103: Rent repayment orders: liability of landlords and superior landlords Background