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 for offences from that date 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, and the pre-May part of some continuing offences.
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.
A continuing offence that started before 1 May 2026 is split. Regulation 11 of SI 2026/421 keeps the old 12-month rules for the pre-May part of an unlicensed HMO or house, a breached improvement notice or prohibition order, or a banning order breach. Only the months from 1 May 2026 count under the new 2-year limit, so that later period cannot reach a full 2 years until May 2028. Do not add the old and new ceilings together to estimate a claim. The split does not apply to unlawful eviction or harassment: an offence committed on or after 1 May 2026 can already use the full 2-year lookback.
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 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 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 relied on a possession ground, such as moving in or selling, knowing it could not succeed, or not caring whether it could, and you gave up the tenancy within four months of the landlord relying on the ground, without a court order, that is 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 from when the notice is served until 12 months after the earliest date the notice gives for court proceedings. Re-letting anyway is an offence under section 16J(2).
- Continuing breaches of the tenancy reform rules. A landlord who has received a final civil penalty for breaking the Act's new tenancy rules and keeps up the same breach more than 28 days later 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 carrying on a redress-scheme breach after a final penalty, giving the database false information, and continuing database breaches. As of September 2026 these offences are not in force. Landlord registration on the database is due to open from 15 December 2026, and the ombudsman is expected in 2028, but the RRO rules for these offences need a separate commencement order.
For the misused-ground and re-letting offences, the usual rule that the home was let to you when the offence happened does not apply, so you can claim even though the offence came after you left. For any RRO offence you can apply after moving out, as long as you apply in time.
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 for offences from 1 May 2026 an RRO can be made against a superior landlord as well as the company you happened to pay. The owner is liable only if they committed the offence, which, since section 105 amended the HMO licensing offence, now covers a superior landlord unless they have a defence.
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, where the company's offence happened with their consent or connivance, or, for most licensing, notice, unlawful-eviction and re-letting offences, through their neglect.
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 must the tribunal award the maximum rent repayment order?
For offences from 1 May 2026, section 46 requires the tribunal to order the maximum it has power to order where the landlord has been convicted of the offence or received a final civil penalty (one that can no longer be appealed) for it, 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. The maximum is still the rent for the eligible period, less any Universal Credit, not an automatic 2 years.
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. If the licensing offence runs continuously from 1 May 2026, by May 2028 the ceiling reaches £33,600 (24 × £1,400, less any Universal Credit). That is the maximum, not a promised award.
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 10 offences you can claim for today? Remedy can check your tenancy against the list and work out which rental months count.
