Reviewed by Sean McNamara, 2026-10-07
A rent repayment order (RRO) makes a landlord repay rent to a tenant (or pay a local authority) where the landlord committed certain offences - the best-known being controlling or managing an unlicensed HMO. Applications go to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) under the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
1) Confirm the offence period from public records (council HMO register, council minutes, banning orders). 2) Gather rent evidence: bank statements, tenancy agreement, receipts. 3) Apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) on the RRO form with the fee (currently no fee for tenant applications - check current practice). 4) Serve the landlord; the Tribunal lists a hearing or decides on papers.
You must not have already been prosecuted for the same conduct yourself, and local authorities can apply too when they housed the tenant or paid housing benefit.
Statutory factors: the landlord's financial circumstances, the seriousness of the offence, any previous convictions, and the tenant's own behaviour. The Rent Repayment Orders (Financial Penalties) type cases distinguish between deliberate offending and technical breaches - amounts reflect that spectrum.
You apply to the First-tier Tribunal within 12 months of the offence ending (for example, within 12 months of the landlord being convicted, or of the unlicensed period ending). The Tribunal decides on the balance of probabilities whether the offence happened, then sets the amount - up to 12 months' rent, reduced by factors like landlord cooperation and your conduct.
No official national success-rate figure is published. Tribunal decisions show claims succeed when evidence is documentary and the offence is clear-cut (no licence on the public record during tenancy), and fail where the property was never licensable or evidence is thin.
The offence list includes: controlling or managing an unlicensed HMO, breaching a banning order, illegal eviction or harassment, violence for securing entry, failing to comply with improvement or prohibition notices, and (in England) unregistered prosecution-worthy breaches of certain landlord duties.
Timelines vary by region and case load - weeks to several months from application to determination. The Tribunal sets directions; delays usually come from incomplete applications that get bounced back for evidence.
That is a separate question (possession for rent arrears under Ground 8 needs over two months' arrears for periodic tenancies). RROs are not about owed rent - they recover rent ALREADY paid from a landlord who committed an offence.
Five or more occupants in two or more households needs a licence in England (mandatory scheme); councils may license smaller shares through additional schemes. Check the council's public register for the address during your tenancy dates - that single document usually makes or breaks the claim.