Rent repayment orders. Now up to 24 months, and what a landlord can do about one.

Guide by Damion Robinson MCIOB MCIEH. Law and figures checked 01/10/2026. This is general information, not legal advice about your case.

What triggers one

The qualifying offences are unlicensed HMOs and selectively licensed properties, failure to comply with an improvement notice or a prohibition order, unlawful eviction or harassment, violence for securing entry, and breach of a banning order. The Renters’ Rights Act added its own offences and extended liability to superior landlords and company directors. The application has to be made within two years of the offence, or within 12 months where the offence was committed before 1 May 2026, and the tribunal has to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offence was committed. No conviction is needed.

How much

For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026 the maximum is 24 months’ rent. For earlier offences it’s 12. The tribunal doesn’t automatically award the maximum. It starts from the rent paid in the period, considers the conduct of both sides, the landlord’s financial circumstances and any previous convictions, and settles on a percentage. The Upper Tribunal set out the method in Acheampong v Roman in 2022 and it’s followed since. Where the landlord has already been convicted or fined for the offence, or had a previous conviction, penalty or rent repayment order for the same type of offence when it was committed, the Act requires the tribunal to order the maximum unless there are exceptional circumstances, so check that first. Rent paid by housing benefit or universal credit goes to the council, not the tenant.

Defences and mitigation

Reasonable excuse is the main defence, and it’s the same one that runs through licensing offences. A complete application submitted and paid before the period claimed usually defeats a licensing-based order for that period. A landlord who wasn’t the person managing or in control of the property may have a defence too, though the Act has closed the gap for superior landlords.

Mitigation is where most cases are actually decided. Evidence of the property’s condition, compliance with gas and electrical duties, prompt licensing once the issue was found, and any tenant conduct that bears on the case all move the percentage. The landlord who turns up with no bundle gets the tenant’s version of events.

Responding

1. Check the offence period against your licence dates and application dates to the day.
2. Gather the compliance file for the property: certificates, alarms, inspections, repairs.
3. Prepare a statement dealing with the offence, any defence and the mitigation factors in order.
4. Consider a without prejudice offer. Tribunals award costs rarely, but a settled case is a cheaper one.

If you’re facing both a civil penalty from the council and a rent repayment order from the tenant for the same facts, the two run separately and both can be imposed. The council’s decision can be used as evidence in the tribunal, so the representations you make to the council matter twice.

Related guides

• Selective licensing in Liverpool. Who needs one now, and what changes in April 2027.
• HMO licensing. Mandatory licences, room sizes, the management regulations and Article 4.
• Civil penalties. What a notice of intent means and how the 28 days work.

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