In England a rent repayment order can make a landlord pay back up to 2 years' rent for offences from 1 May 2026, including letting an unlicensed HMO or house, illegal eviction and knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground. A tenant has 2 years to apply, the tribunal must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, and no conviction is needed.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 29 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 29 October 2026 · How we verify · Report a problem with this page · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
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| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides | The First-tier Tribunal, if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the landlord committed a listed offence, whether or not convicted | s.43(1) | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.43 (making of rent repayment order) |
| Maximum period | Up to 2 years' rent (raised from 12 months) for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026 | 1 May 2026 | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.44 (amount of order: tenants) |
| Who can apply | The tenant, or the council for universal credit paid towards the rent | s.41(1) | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.41 (application for rent repayment order) |
| Tenant's time limit | The offence must fall in the period of 2 years ending with the day of the application | 1 May 2026 | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.41 (application for rent repayment order) |
| Council's first step | A notice of intended proceedings with at least 28 days for representations, within 2 years of the offence | s.42 | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.42 (notice of intended proceedings) |
| Who can be ordered to pay | The landlord; a superior landlord who committed the offence (s.103); a company officer who consented to or connived in it, or neglected a specified one (s.104) | 1 May 2026 | Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.104 (liability of directors etc) |
| Offences before 1 May 2026 | Old rules apply: 12-month maximum and 12-month application window | SI 2026/421 reg 11 | SI 2026/421 reg 11 (transitional provision: offences before 1 May 2026) |
| Enforcement | The sum ordered is recoverable as a debt | s.47(1) | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.47 (enforcement) |
A rent repayment order (RRO) is an order of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) requiring a landlord who has committed one of a short list of housing offences to pay rent back to the tenant, or to repay universal credit paid towards the rent to the council. It is a civil claim decided by a tribunal, not a prosecution, and it sits alongside any fine or council penalty for the same conduct. Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 "confers power on the First-tier Tribunal to make a rent repayment order where an offence to which this Chapter applies has been committed by— (a) a landlord under a tenancy of housing in England, or (b) any superior landlord in relation to such a tenancy" (s.40(1)).
The order requires the landlord "to— (a) pay a tenant an amount in respect of rent paid by or on behalf of the tenant (whether the rent was paid to the landlord or superior landlord against whom the order is made, or to another person), or (b) pay a local housing authority an amount in respect of a relevant award of universal credit paid (to any person) in respect of rent under the tenancy" (s.40(2)). The Renters' Rights Act 2025 rewrote the chapter from 1 May 2026: s.98 added new offences and doubled the time limits for applying; s.103 doubled the repayable period and brought in superior landlords; and s.104 reached company officers.
For a landlord the practical point is simple. In the decisions on our news feed the usual trigger is letting a property that needed an HMO, additional or selective licence without one (see our HMO licence check), and the sum at stake is now the rent for up to two years.
Only the offences in the table in s.40(3) of the 2016 Act count, and the offence must be "committed by a landlord in relation to housing in England let by that landlord". A late gas safety record, a missing EPC or an unprotected deposit is not on the list; an unlicensed let, an unlawful eviction, ignoring an improvement notice served over a hazard, or a misused possession ground is.
| Row | Act and section | General description in the table | In force? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Criminal Law Act 1977 s.6(1) | "violence for securing entry" | Yes |
| 2 | Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.1(2), (3) or (3A) | "eviction or harassment of occupiers" | Yes |
| 2A | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(1) | "Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground" | Yes, from 1 May 2026 |
| 2B | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(2) | "Breach of restriction on letting or marketing dwelling-house" | Yes, from 1 May 2026 |
| 2C | Housing Act 1988 s.16J(3) | "Tenancy reform: continuing breaches" | Yes, from 1 May 2026 |
| 3 | Housing Act 2004 s.30(1) | "failure to comply with improvement notice" | Yes |
| 4 | Housing Act 2004 s.32(1) | "failure to comply with prohibition order etc" | Yes |
| 5 | Housing Act 2004 s.72(1) | "offences relating to unlicensed HMOs" | Yes |
| 6 | Housing Act 2004 s.95(1) | "offences relating to unlicensed houses" | Yes |
| 7 | Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.21 | "breach of banning order" | Yes |
| 8 to 10 | Renters' Rights Act 2025 ss.67(1), 92(1), 92(2) | Landlord redress scheme and Private Rented Sector Database offences | Not in force: SI 2026/421 reg 3(h) commenced s.98 "except" these rows |
The three new Housing Act 1988 rows come from the Renters' Rights Act. Under s.16J(1) a person commits an offence if they rely "on a ground in Schedule 2, knowing that the landlord would not be able to obtain an order for possession on that ground, or being reckless as to whether the landlord would be able to do so", and "the tenant surrenders the tenancy within the period of four months beginning with the date the ground was relied on, without an order for possession of the dwelling-house being made". Section 16J(2) is the offence of letting, or marketing to let, within the restricted period after relying on Ground 1 or 1A (s.16E(2), (3)), and s.16J(3) is conduct that continues more than 28 days after a final financial penalty under s.16I or s.16K. Our guide to the Section 8 grounds for possession explains what each ground requires.
The unlicensed-property rows are the ones that appear most in the decisions on our feed. Under Housing Act 2004 s.72(1), "If an HMO is required to be licensed under this Part (see section 61(1)) but is not so licensed, an offence is committed by— (a) any person within subsection (1A), and (b) any person who as landlord under a tenancy or licensor under a licence to occupy has an estate or interest in, or a right in relation to, the HMO that is superior (whether directly or indirectly)" to theirs; subsection (1A) covers "any person having control of or managing the HMO" and "any person who is the landlord or licensor in relation to a person occupying the HMO under a tenancy or licence". Section 95(1) says the same for a house in a selective-licensing area.
For an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026 the period is up to 2 years, and section 44 sets that period by offence and caps the amount at the rent actually paid for it, net of universal credit.
| Offence (row of the s.40(3) table) | Period the amount "must relate to" | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Violence for entry, eviction or harassment, misusing a possession ground (rows 1, 2, 2A) | "the period of 2 years ending with the date of the offence" | s.44(2) |
| Breach of the letting or marketing restriction (row 2B) | "the period of 2 years ending with the date of the offence or, if the tenancy ends before that date, the date on which it ends" | s.44(2) |
| Continuing breaches, improvement or prohibition notices, unlicensed HMO or house, banning order (rows 2C, 3 to 7) | "a period, not exceeding 2 years, during which the landlord was committing the offence" | s.44(2) |
The cap: the amount "must not exceed— (a) the rent paid by, or on behalf of, the tenant in respect of that period, less (b) any relevant award of universal credit paid (to any person) in respect of rent under the tenancy during that period" (s.44(3)). Within the cap the tribunal "must, in particular, take into account— (a) the conduct of the landlord and the tenant, (aa) the amount of any rent received by the tenant in respect of the period mentioned in the table in relation to the housing let to the tenant, (b) the financial circumstances of the landlord, (c) whether the landlord has at any time been convicted of or received a financial penalty in respect of, an offence to which this Chapter applies, and (d) whether the landlord has at any time had a rent repayment order made against them" (s.44(4)). Paragraph (aa), the financial-penalty limb of (c) and paragraph (d) are new from 1 May 2026: where a tenant sub-let and collected rent, the tribunal must take that rent into account.
For an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026, two situations remove the discretion. Under s.46 the amount "is to be the maximum that the tribunal has power to order in accordance with section 44 or 45 (but disregarding subsection (4) of those sections)" where the landlord "has been convicted of the offence" or "has received a financial penalty in respect of the offence and is made at a time when there is no prospect of appeal against that penalty" (Condition 1), or where the landlord has at any time, "whether or not in relation to the same tenancy or housing", been convicted of, penalised for, or had a rent repayment order for "another offence which is the same offence as the relevant offence" (Condition 2). For this purpose an unlicensed-HMO offence under s.72(1) "is to be treated as the same offence as an offence under section 95(1)" (s.46(4A)). The only escape is s.46(5): "Nothing in this section requires the payment of any amount that, by reason of exceptional circumstances, the tribunal considers it would be unreasonable to require the landlord to pay." For an offence committed before 1 May 2026 the old s.46 applies (reg 11): both of its conditions had to be met and a tenant's claim for an unlicensed HMO or house was not forced to the maximum.
Where there is more than one landlord, s.46A(1) says the order "must provide for the landlords to be jointly and severally liable for the amount due under the order" (a superior landlord or a company officer treated as the landlord counts); and a second order on the same tenancy "may not require payment to be made in respect of any period in respect of which the original order required payment to be made" (s.46A(2)). Whatever is ordered "is recoverable as a debt" (s.47(1)).
Before 1 May 2026 only the immediate landlord could be ordered to repay; from that date the order can be made against the landlord "or superior landlord who committed the offence" (s.40(2), substituted by Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.103). Where the superior landlord committed the offence, "references in the following provisions of this Chapter to the landlord are to be read as references to the superior landlord" (s.40(2A)). So an owner who lets to a rent-to-rent operator, who in turn lets an unlicensed HMO, is within reach where the owner has committed the s.72(1)(b) offence as the person with the superior interest.
Company landlords no longer shield their officers from a rent repayment order. Section 104 of the 2025 Act inserts s.51A into the 2016 Act: where "a landlord which is a body corporate has committed an offence to which this Chapter applies" and the offence "was committed with the consent or connivance of a relevant person in relation to the body corporate", or "was a specified offence and was attributable to any neglect on the part of such a person", then "That person, as well as the body corporate, is treated for the purposes of this Chapter as having committed the offence". A "relevant person" is "a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body", and the "specified offence" list for the neglect limb includes unlicensed HMOs and houses (Housing Act 2004 ss.72(1) and 95(1)), failure to comply with an improvement notice or prohibition order (ss.30(1) and 32(1)), the s.16J(2) and (3) offences, unlawful eviction under s.1(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and breach of a banning order; harassment, violence for entry and the s.16J(1) offence reach an officer only through consent or connivance. SI 2026/421 reg 3(k) commenced s.104 on 1 May 2026 "but not paragraph (e) of the definition of 'specified offence'", which is the redress-scheme and Private Rented Sector Database limb; those offences are not in force. Section 51A adds liability to the rent repayment order itself, up to the same cap and jointly and severally with the company (s.46A); it is separate from an officer's criminal liability for the offence under Housing Act 2004 s.251.
A tenant "may apply for a rent repayment order only if— (a) the offence relates to housing that, at the time of the offence, was let to the tenant, and (b) the offence was committed in the period of 2 years ending with the day on which the application is made" (s.41(2)). So the offence must have been committed at some point in the 2 years ending with the application, and s.44 then limits the repayable period to up to 2 years during which it was being committed. Condition (a) is disapplied for the s.16J(1) and (2) offences (s.41(2A)), so the tenant need not have been let the housing at the time of the offence; that matters because a s.16J(1) offence is only complete on surrender and a s.16J(2) offence happens after the tenant has left.
A council must first give the landlord "a notice of intended proceedings" which must "inform the landlord that the authority is proposing to apply for a rent repayment order and explain why", "state the amount that the authority seeks to recover", and "invite the landlord to make representations within a period specified in the notice of not less than 28 days" (s.42(2)). It "must consider any representations made during the notice period" and "must wait until the notice period has ended before applying" (s.42(3), (4)). The notice "may not be given after the end of the period of 2 years beginning with the day on which the landlord committed the offence to which it relates" (s.42(5)). Both the tenant's and the council's limits remain 12 months for an offence committed before 1 May 2026 (reg 11); the 2-year limits come from Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.98(3) and (4).
The old rules. Regulation 11 of SI 2026/421 says the amendments made by ss.98, 103 and 104 "have no effect— (a) in relation to an offence committed before 1st May 2026; or (b) where a person commits an offence mentioned in row 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the table in section 40(3) ... for a continuous period starting before 1st May 2026 and ending on or after that date, in relation to the period falling before 1st May 2026." So an unlicensed HMO let from, say, 1 January 2026 to 31 August 2026 is assessed under the 12-month rules for the January to April part and the 2-year rules for the May to August part, and superior landlords and company officers are only reachable for the later part.
GOV.UK's guidance for tenants, updated 1 May 2026, puts it plainly: "For offences committed before 1 May 2026 different rules apply. For example, the maximum amount repayable is one year's rent rather than two years' rent, and the tenant must apply within one year of the offence being committed, instead of two years" (Rent Repayment Orders: guidance for tenants).
The tribunal "may make a rent repayment order if satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that a landlord has committed an offence to which this Chapter applies (whether or not the landlord has been convicted)" (s.43(1)). That is the criminal standard: the applicant must prove every element of the offence, including, for an HMO, that the property was in fact occupied by enough people from enough households on the dates claimed. Published decisions on our news feed include an application dismissed because the applicants could not prove HMO occupation on any identifiable date, and two dismissed as out of time.
For the unlicensed-property offences the tribunal applies the statutory defences in the Housing Act 2004. Under s.72(4) "it is a defence that, at the material time— (a) a notification had been duly given in respect of the house under section 62(1), or (b) an application for a licence had been duly made in respect of the house under section 63, and that notification or application was still effective". A duly made application that is still "effective" (not withdrawn, and either undecided or, after a refusal, still within the appeal period or under appeal: s.72(8), (9)) is a complete answer from the date it was duly made, and a published decision on our feed dismissed a claim on exactly that basis. Section 72(4A) adds a defence for the person managing or letting to prove "that they had a reasonable excuse", and s.72(4B) gives a superior landlord a defence if they prove that they "did not know, and had a reasonable excuse for not knowing, that the building or part of the building concerned was an HMO", or "took all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the HMO was licensed", or "had some other reasonable excuse"; these are alternatives. For a superior landlord, a term in the tenancy agreement about occupation "does not on its own constitute a defence" under s.72(4B) (s.72(4C)). Section 95(3) to (3C) mirror these for selective licensing.
Note what is not a defence in itself: not knowing the area had been designated (at most it can be argued as a reasonable excuse, which you must prove); an application that was started but never duly made (s.63(2) and (3) let the council set the requirements and the fee); and a licence obtained later, which does not cover the period before the application was duly made. And the same conduct can also draw a council financial penalty: under Housing Act 2004 s.249A a council "may impose a financial penalty on a person if satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, that the person's conduct amounts to a relevant housing offence", up to £40,000 (s.249A(4), as uprated from 1 May 2026), and, for an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026, a penalty with no prospect of appeal then triggers the maximum rent repayment order under s.46.
Our news feed publishes First-tier Tribunal rent repayment decisions as they appear on GOV.UK, each linked to the official decision. In the twenty decisions published since August 2026, orders range from a few hundred pounds to five-figure sums on a single London HMO, with the s.44(4) factors deciding how much of the rent claimed is ordered. The dismissals are as instructive as the orders: published decisions include claims dismissed because the application was out of time, because a licence application had been "duly made" and was still effective, because HMO status was not proved to the criminal standard, and because the property was licensed throughout. Every decision listed concerns an offence period before 1 May 2026 and so applies the 12-month rules and the old s.46; First-tier Tribunal decisions do not bind other tribunals.
The decisions below are drawn from the feed; the amounts are those stated in the published decisions. Read them alongside the licensing position in our HMO licence check and, for the possession grounds that the s.16J offences attach to, what replaced Section 21.
Every First-tier Tribunal rent repayment decision published on the ComplyWithMe news feed since August 2026, newest first. The figure is the one recorded in the decision; the source column opens the official record on GOV.UK.
Figures are as recorded in each decision. Every case turns on its own facts; this table shows what tribunals have decided, it is not advice on your case.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory landlord and property registration on the Private Rented Sector Database (the landlord register), with an annual fee | regulations in draft | Regional rollout from 15 December 2026 (West Midlands first) to 15 September 2027 for all other purposes, per the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 | Keep copies, not just dates, of the gas safety record, EICR and EPC for each property, and know whether a licence applies; those are what the draft regulations say the entry needs. Source |
A rent repayment order is an order of the First-tier Tribunal under Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 requiring a landlord in England who has committed a listed housing offence to pay rent back to the tenant, or to repay universal credit paid towards the rent to the council. The tribunal must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, and no conviction is needed.
Up to 2 years' rent for an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026, under Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.44 as amended by Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.103. For an offence committed before 1 May 2026 the old limit of 12 months' rent still applies, by regulation 11 of SI 2026/421. The amount is capped at the rent actually paid, less any universal credit paid towards it.
Yes. Offences under Housing Act 2004 s.72(1) (unlicensed HMO) and s.95(1) (unlicensed house in a selective-licensing area) are rows 5 and 6 of the s.40(3) table. The tenant must prove, to the criminal standard, that the property needed a licence and had none for the period claimed, and that the application is within the 2-year window. The repayable period is the time the offence was being committed, up to 2 years (12 months, with a 12-month window, for an offence committed before 1 May 2026: SI 2026/421 reg 11).
For a tenant, the offence must have been committed in the period of 2 years ending with the day the application is made (Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.41(2)(b)). A council must first serve a notice of intended proceedings, which cannot be given after 2 years beginning with the day of the offence (s.42(5)). Both limits were 12 months for offences committed before 1 May 2026.
Not automatic, but for an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026 the amount is. Under s.46 of the 2016 Act as amended, where the landlord has been convicted of the offence, or has received a financial penalty for it with no prospect of appeal, or has a previous conviction, penalty or rent repayment order for the same offence, the tribunal must order the maximum the s.44 cap allows, unless exceptional circumstances make that unreasonable (s.46(5)). For an earlier offence the old s.46 applies and a tenant's unlicensed-HMO claim is not forced to the maximum.
Yes, from 1 May 2026. Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.103 substituted s.40(1) and (2) of the 2016 Act so that an order can be made against the landlord or any superior landlord who committed the offence. For an unlicensed HMO, Housing Act 2004 s.72(1)(b) makes the person with the superior interest an offender too, subject to the s.72(4B) defences, which the superior landlord must prove: not knowing (with a reasonable excuse for not knowing), taking all reasonably practicable steps, or some other reasonable excuse.
Yes, where the landlord is a company and the offence was committed with the director's consent or connivance, or, for the specified offences including unlicensed HMOs and houses, was attributable to their neglect. Section 51A of the 2016 Act, inserted by Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.104 from 1 May 2026, treats that person as having committed the offence, so the order can be made against them as well as the company.
The strongest is Housing Act 2004 s.72(4): at the material time a licence application had been duly made, or a temporary exemption notification duly given, and was still effective. The applicant must also prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the property was an HMO requiring a licence throughout the period claimed, and that the application is in time. A reasonable excuse defence exists under s.72(4A), and superior landlords have s.72(4B). This page is not advice on your case.
Only to the part after that date. Regulation 11 of SI 2026/421 says the Renters' Rights Act amendments have no effect in relation to an offence committed before 1 May 2026, and, for a continuing offence such as an unlicensed HMO that straddles the date, have no effect in relation to the period falling before 1 May 2026. The earlier period is assessed under the 12-month rules.
Yes. A council financial penalty under Housing Act 2004 s.249A, up to £40,000 from 1 May 2026, is a separate route from a tenant's rent repayment order, and, for an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026, a penalty with no prospect of appeal is one of the triggers for the tribunal to order the maximum repayment under s.46 of the 2016 Act. The council may not impose a penalty where the person has been convicted for the same conduct, or while criminal proceedings for it are under way (s.249A(5)).
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