You suspect your landlord has committed an offence, maybe an unlicensed HMO or an eviction that never should have happened, and you want to know what you can claim back. Most guides still quote the old rules. On 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 rewrote them for renters in England, and the maximum claim doubled to 2 years' rent.
How rent repayment orders worked before 1 May 2026
A rent repayment order (RRO) is an order from the First-tier Tribunal making a landlord hand rent back after committing one of a set list of housing offences, such as running an unlicensed HMO or an unlawful eviction. Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 the list held 7 offences, the maximum award was 12 months' rent, and you had to apply within 12 months of the offence. After Rakusen v Jepsen [2023] UKSC 9, the order could only be made against your immediate landlord, which left the building's owner untouchable in rent-to-rent setups. Those rules still govern offences committed before 1 May 2026.
What changed for rent repayment orders under the Renters' Rights Act
For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 rewrites the rent repayment order rules in the Housing and Planning Act 2016.
- The maximum award is now 2 years' rent, up from 12 months.
- You now have 2 years from the offence to apply, up from 12 months.
- The list of qualifying offences grows from 7 to 13.
The core mechanics are the same. You apply to the First-tier Tribunal, the offence must be proved beyond reasonable doubt, and no criminal conviction is needed first. The tribunal still weighs the landlord's conduct, your conduct, and the landlord's financial circumstances when setting the amount. It must now also consider any past financial penalties and any previous RRO against the landlord.
If you're new to the process, start with our guide on how to apply for a rent repayment order and what the tribunal expects you to prove.
Which new offences qualify for a rent repayment order in 2026?
Section 98 adds 6 offences to the list in section 40 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. Three are live now.
- Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground. If your landlord evicted you claiming they were moving in or selling, and that was false, that is now an RRO offence under section 16J(1) of the Housing Act 1988. See our guide to ground 1A evictions when a landlord sells.
- Breaching the re-letting restriction. After using the moving-in or selling grounds, a landlord cannot re-let or re-market the property for at least 12 months. Re-letting anyway is an offence under section 16J(2).
- Continuing breaches of the tenancy reform rules. A landlord who has been fined for breaking the Act's new tenancy rules and carries on regardless commits an offence under section 16J(3).
The remaining three attach to the new landlord redress scheme and the private rented sector database, under sections 67 and 92 of the Renters' Rights Act. They cover ignoring enforcement over ombudsman membership, giving the database false information, and continuing database breaches. Neither service had launched at the time of writing, so these offences cannot yet be committed.
For the misused-ground and re-letting offences, you do not need to still live in the property, because those offences typically happen after you've been pushed out. You can claim from your new address.
Can I get a rent repayment order against a superior landlord?
Yes, and this is one of the quieter changes. Section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act reverses Rakusen v Jepsen, so an RRO can now be made against a superior landlord as well as the company you happened to pay.
Rent-to-rent arrangements were the problem this fixes. A property owner would lease a house to a middleman company, the company would cram it with tenants and skip the HMO licence, and when tenants won an RRO the shell company dissolved with nothing to pay. Now the owner can be on the hook, and under section 104 company directors can be personally liable too.
If your home is an unlicensed HMO run through a middleman, see our guide to rent repayment orders for unlicensed HMOs for how the licensing side works.
When the tribunal must award the maximum 2 years
The tribunal must now order the full amount where the landlord has been convicted of or fined for the offence, or is a repeat offender, meaning they have previously been convicted of, fined for, or hit with an RRO for the same offence.
A landlord caught running unlicensed HMOs a second time does not get to argue for a discount. Short of exceptional circumstances, the tribunal's discretion over the amount is gone.
How much is a 2-year rent repayment order worth?
Take a renter paying £1,400 a month in a shared house that needed an HMO licence and never had one. Under the old cap the most the tribunal could order back was £16,800. Once the offence has run for 2 years under the new cap, the claim reaches £33,600.
Any Universal Credit that covered part of your rent is deducted from the award, though the council can claim that portion itself. Our guide on how long a rent repayment order takes walks through the realistic timeline from application to payout.
Not sure whether your situation matches one of the 13 offences? Remedy can check your tenancy against the list and work out what 2 years of your rent adds up to.
