Rent Repayment Orders for Housing Disrepair in London: A Landlord Guide

What a Rent Repayment Order Is and How It Works

A rent repayment order is an order made by the First-tier Tribunal requiring a landlord to repay a specified amount of rent to a tenant, or to a local housing authority if the tenant received housing benefit or universal credit during the relevant period. Rent repayment orders are distinct from housing disrepair claims in the county court: a county court disrepair claim seeks damages for breach of the landlord repair obligations, whereas a rent repayment order does not require the tenant to prove that the landlord breach caused them loss. Instead, the tribunal has power to award up to twelve months rent where the landlord has committed a specified relevant offence.

The relevant offences for which a rent repayment order can be awarded were originally limited to renting out an HMO or other licensable property without the required licence, and were extended by the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to include a broader range of offences including breach of an improvement notice, breach of a prohibition order, failure to comply with an HMO management regulation, and eviction or harassment offences. The Renters Rights Act 2024 has further extended the grounds for rent repayment orders to include additional offences relating to the new tenancy framework, increasing the potential financial exposure for London landlords who fail to comply with the expanded regulatory requirements.

The Connection Between Disrepair and Rent Repayment Orders

The connection between housing disrepair and rent repayment orders arises because a failure to maintain a rental property in compliance with the applicable safety regulations or licensing conditions can itself constitute a relevant offence. A property that is rented without a valid gas safety certificate is an offence under the Gas Safety Regulations and is likely to constitute a relevant offence for rent repayment order purposes. A property that is rented in breach of a selective licensing condition may constitute the relevant offence of renting a licensable property without a licence. A property that is subject to an improvement notice that the landlord has failed to comply with within the required period may constitute a relevant offence.

In practice, the pathway from disrepair to a rent repayment order typically begins with a tenant complaint to the local housing authority, which triggers an HHSRS inspection, which identifies a category one hazard, which leads to an improvement notice, which if not complied with within the required period constitutes the relevant offence for a rent repayment order application. London landlords who do not address disrepair complaints promptly therefore risk not only a county court disrepair claim but also a rent repayment order application that can require repayment of up to twelve months rent, regardless of whether the tenant suffered any specific financial loss as a result of the disrepair.

Protecting Against Rent Repayment Order Risk

The most effective protection against rent repayment order risk for London landlords is to maintain properties in compliance with all applicable safety regulations and licensing requirements, to respond promptly to repair complaints and document the response, and to ensure that all licences are in place before any tenancy begins. For gas safety compliance, this means ensuring that a valid gas safety certificate is in place before any new tenancy commences and that certificates are renewed annually before the previous certificate expires. For electrical compliance, this means ensuring that a valid EICR is in place and that any C1 or C2 faults identified are remediated within the required twenty-eight-day period.

Prestige Engineers support London landlords with the maintenance of their compliance documentation, including gas safety certificates, boiler service records, and plumbing repair job sheets that provide evidence of a prompt and professional response to reported defects. For landlords who have received an improvement notice from a London local authority, we can carry out the required works and provide the documentation needed to notify the authority that the notice has been complied with within the required timeframe. Acting promptly on improvement notices is the single most important step a London landlord can take to avoid the relevant offence that opens the door to a rent repayment order application.