Anthony Gold

Get in touch

020 7940 4060

  • People
  • Insights
  • What to Expect
  • Contact Us
Anthony Gold
  • Services
    • Housing And Property Disputes
      • Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Services For Commercial Landlords, Tenants And Agents
      • Services For Residential Landlords And Agents
      • Housing And Tenancy Issues
      • Judicial Review
    • Injury And Medical Claims
      • Life Changing Injuries
      • Medical Claims
      • Personal Injury
      • Child Abuse
    • Family And Relationships
      • Starting Relationships
      • Ending Relationships
      • After Relationships End
      • Useful Contacts
      • Religious & Cultural Issues
      • Family Law FAQs
      • Family Dispute Resolution
      • Modern Families And Surrogacy Arrangements
    • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
      • Business Agreements
      • Business Disagreements
      • Commercial Property
      • Commercial Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Residential Property
    • Wills, Estates & Court Of Protection
      • Wills, Trusts And Estates
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Capacity And Court Of Protection
    • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
      • Personal Claims
      • Professional Negligence
      • Business Disagreements
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Employment
    • People
    • Insights
    • What to Expect
    • Contact Us
  • Get in touch

    020 7940 4060

  • Housing and Property Disputes
  • Injury and Medical Claims
  • Family and Relationships
  • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
  • Wills, Estates & Court of Protection
  • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
  • Property disputes
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Challenging the decisions of councils and public bodies
  • Rights of way, boundaries, covenants and easements
  • Party wall disputes
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Services for commercial landlords, tenants and agents
  • Breach of covenant
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Lease renewals
  • Services for residential landlords and agents
  • Regulatory issues
  • Repossession
  • Agents (including letting agreements)
  • Housing and tenancy issues
  • Repairs
  • Repossession and eviction
  • Rehousing and homelessness
  • Judicial review
  • Life changing injuries
  • Brain injury
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Amputation
  • Psychiatric injury
  • Fatal injuries and inquests
  • Medical claims
  • Surgical claims
  • Non-Surgical Claims
  • Birth injury
  • Child health and paediatrics
  • GP and primary care treatment
  • Private healthcare
  • Personal injury
  • Road traffic accidents
  • Accidents abroad
  • Accidents at work
  • Faulty products
  • Public liability and other accidents
  • Child abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Starting relationships
  • Pre nuptial agreements
  • Pre civil partnership and same sex relationship agreements
  • Cohabitation and living together agreements
  • Property ownership agreements
  • Ending relationships
  • Divorce and separation
  • Ending a civil partnership
  • Ending cohabitation
  • Agreeing child arrangements
  • Agreeing finance and assets
  • International arrangements
  • After relationships end
  • Abduction and leave to remove children
  • Changing and challenging parenting agreements
  • Changing and challenging financial agreements
  • Grandparents’ rights
  • Useful Contacts
  • Financial planners
  • Referral to Pension Actuaries and Pension on Divorce Experts (PODEs)
  • Tax Specialists
  • Financial Neutrals
  • Counselling
  • Conveyancing
  • Wills
  • Religious & cultural issues
  • Jewish family law
  • Islamic family law
  • Family Law FAQs
  • Children FAQs
  • Cohabitation Agreement FAQs
  • No-Fault Divorce and Separation FAQs
  • Financial Issues FAQs
  • Pre-Marital Contracts FAQs
  • Family Dispute Resolution
  • Roundtable Meetings
  • One Solicitor Solution
  • Mediation
  • Collaborative Practice
  • Arbitration
  • Second Opinions
  • Private FDR’s
  • Early Neutral Evaluation (‘ENE’)
  • Modern Families and Surrogacy Arrangements
  • Domestic Surrogacy
  • International Surrogacy
  • Business agreements
  • Business advice
  • Employment
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Supplier contracts
  • Business disagreements
  • Commercial property
  • Commercial Sale and Purchases
  • Commercial loans and mortgages
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Commercial advice for landlords and tenants
  • Planning advice
  • Mortgage debentures and securities
  • Commercial property disputes
  • Breach of covenant
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Lease renewals
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Residential property
  • Residential Sale and Purchases
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Remortgages
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Ownership matters and transfers
  • Wills, trusts and estates
  • Making a will
  • Applying for probate
  • Distributing the estate
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Trust advice
  • Tax planning and advice
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Appointing a deputy
  • Removing a deputy
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Gifts and legacies
  • Managing assets under a deputyship
  • Care issues
  • Removing lasting and enduring power of attorney
  • Special educational needs
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Personal claims
  • Debt recovery
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Building disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Professional Negligence
  • Property Fraud
  • Investment Fraud
  • Business disagreements
  • Building disputes
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Claims against directors
  • Contract disputes
  • Debt recovery
  • Directors personal liabilities
  • Employment
  • Professional negligence
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Employment
  • Employment
  • Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal
  • Settlement Agreements
Anthony Gold > Blog > Can a tenant recover more than twelve months’ rent in a rent repayment order?
Tamanna Begum

Tamanna Begum

tamanna.begum@anthonygold.co.uk

Share
  • March 24, 2021
  • Blog
  • By  Tamanna Begum 
  • 0 comments

Can a tenant recover more than twelve months’ rent in a rent repayment order?


In the Upper Tribunal case of Rosa Ficcara  & Ors v- Hannah James, the Deputy President of the Lands Chamber, Martin Rodger QC, considered whether tribunals could award more than 12 months’ rent where the landlord was found to have committed multiple offences.

Background

In this case, the Applicants claimed that their landlord had committed three offences relating to: having control or managing an unlicensed house in multiple occupation pursuant to section 72(1) of the Housing Act 2004 from 15 March 2018 until 28 July 2019, harassment, and unlawful eviction pursuant to sections 1(3), 1(3A) and 1(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 which took place on 28 July 2019. They asked the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) to make three separate rent repayment order.

The FtT was satisfied that the landlord had committed these offences and made an RRO for the maximum amount of 12 months’ rent. The FtT held that they did not have power to make separate RROs for all the alleged offences as it would exceed the amount of rent paid by the Applicants. The tribunal nevertheless suggested that multiple offences could be considered as “relevant conduct” under section 44(4) of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (“the Act”) when determining the level of award.

The Upper Tribunal’s Decision

The Applicants appealed to the UT on the basis that a separate order of 12 months’ rent should have been made in respect of each of the offences.

The UT dismissed the appeal and upheld the FtT’s decision. It held that a RRO award must relate to the rent paid in respect a particular period of time and the tribunals could not award more than 12 months’ rent as it was not permitted by the Act.

The Act does not envisage a landlord being ordered to pay  multiples of the same sum even if the landlord was found to have committed multiple offences across different relevant periods.

In dismissing the appeal, the Martin Rodger QC went on to say the following:

“Section 44(3) sets the limit. The amount a landlord may be required to repay in respect of a period must not exceed the rent paid in respect of that period less any relevant award of universal credit paid in respect of rent under the tenancy during that period. It is significant that the limit is expressed by reference to a period of time, and the rent paid in respect of that period of time, rather than by reference to a particular offence. If a number of offences are committed in the same period, the application of section 44(2) will result in a single period of time, rather than multiple periods of time each of the same duration and commencement. The amount which may be made the subject of a rent repayment order must relate to the rent paid by the tenant in respect of that period.”

He also considered the wording in section 44(2) of the Act and what Parliament intended tenants to be awarded for RROs, by comparing section 44(2) with the provisions in section 214(4) of the Housing Act 2004 relating to tenancy deposits which states ‘the court must order the landlord to pay the tenant ‘a sum of money not less than the amount of the deposit and not more than three times the amount of the deposit’.  His view was that that if Parliament had intended Applicants to recover multiple awards under an RRO, it would have used similar language to section 214 of the Housing Act 2004 in section 44(3).

The UT acknowledged that the wording of section 44 did not provide further guidance on multiple offences or periods, but held that the award must not exceed the rent paid during the 12 months period.  Even where there are multiples offences and the ‘period’ of rent being reclaimed might cover more than a twelve-month period of time, the judge held that only a maximum of twelve months rent could be reclaimed. If Parliament intended tenants to recover more than 12 months’ rent, then it would have been expressly provided for in section 44(3).

The UT also noted that an RRO is a ‘draconian penalty’ as landlords could be made to repay all of the rent received during a relevant period. Landlords could also face further financial penalties from local authorities in relation to property licensing and a tenant could also make a civil claim for damages. This therefore means a landlord would be most at financial loss in RRO claims.

What does this mean

As such, 12 months is the maximum amount a landlord could be ordered to pay regardless of the number and timing of the alleged offence. Tenants are therefore precluded from claiming more than 12 months’ rent for multiple offences and they can only recover the rent paid over the 12-month period and not multiples of the same sum. This decision appears to prevent tenants from ever recovering more than 12 months’ rent under a rent repayment order. However, if more than one offence has been committed, this is likely to lead to a higher award – the UT noted that tribunals still have a wide discretion when setting the amount of any award,  and that if the landlord has committed other offences, this would be a factor weighing towards a higher award for the tenant. This means that there is still some value to tenants in demonstrating that their landlord has committed multiple offences.

*Disclaimer: The information on the Anthony Gold website is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated as such. It is provided without any representations or warranties, express or implied.*

Tamanna Begum

Tamanna Begum

tamanna.begum@anthonygold.co.uk

Get in touch

Call, email or use a contact form – whichever suits you. We’ll let you know the best person to help you get started.

Call or Email

020 7940 4060

mail@anthonygold.co.uk

No comments

Add your comment

We need your name and email address to make sure you’re a real person. We won’t share your email address with anyone else or send you spam. Please complete fields marked with *.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

code

Related Services

  • Breach of covenant

  • Breach of covenant

  • Challenging the decisions of councils and public bodies

  • Dilapidations and failing to repair

  • Dilapidations and failing to repair

  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession

  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession

  • Ownership disputes and shares in property

  • Party wall disputes

  • Planning advice

  • Public liability and other accidents

  • Regulatory issues

  • Rehousing and homelessness

  • Remortgages

  • Repairs

  • Repairs to leaseholds

  • Repossession

  • Repossession and eviction

  • Service charge disputes

About the author

  • Tamanna Begum

Meet the team

  • Housing and Property Disputes

You might also like...

  • Why don’t social landlords do repairs? And will their reasons stand up in court?

  • Electrical safety standards to apply to all private landlords in England from 1 April 2021

  • Fire Safety and Service Charges: The impact of the Building Safety Bill and the Fire Safety Bill

Contact Us

Request a Call Back

About Us

  • Accessibility
  • Compliance
  • Responsible Business
  • Equality & Diversity
  • History
  • Our Beliefs
  • List of LLP members

Careers

  • Trainee Solicitors
  • Vacancies

Social Media

  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • View our YouTube channel

Online Payments

  • Payment page through Worldpay

Accredited by

Lexel Parctice
76000Award

Copyright © Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC433560 and is authorised and regulated by the by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration Number 810601