HMOs- Getting Fees Back

I have recently found myself acting for a client seeking a historical HMO fee refund. The local authority were refusing the refund on the basis that they had licensed the property in good faith and had, at the time, believed that the property needed a license.

However, the authority were forgetting that Regulation 7(7) of the Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 requires them to make a refund as soon as they become aware that the property is not or was not a licensable HMO.

A brief letter to the local authority concerned resulted in an immediate promise to refund over £8,000 of HMO licensing fees.

I do wonder how many other landlords are in a position where they have paid substantial licence fees they did not need to and either do not realise they can get them back or face a local authority which refuses to pay them.

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