Rent Repayment Order
A Rent Repayment Order (RRO)[1] is an order in the United Kingdom that allows a tenant or local authority[2] to reclaim rent or housing benefit[2] where a landlord rents out an unlicenced property[3] such as a House in multiple occupation (HMO).[4]
Rent Repayment Orders are not obtained through the courts system but through a Residential Property Tribunal. Housing academic David Cowan writing in Housing Law and Policy cites the case Newham London Borough Council v Ring to demonstrate that a local authority can use a rent repayment order to reclaim housing benefit.[5] Local authorities can only apply for a Rent Repayment Order where occupiers pay their rent with the assistance of housing benefit.[6]
The Housing and Planning Bill 2015-16 proposes changes to when Rent Repayment Orders can be granted to include the following situations:
- Breaches of improvement orders and prohibition notices and of licensing requirements under the Housing Act 2004.[7]
- Violent entry under the Criminal Law Act 1977.[8]
- Unlawful eviction under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.[9]
References
- ↑ "Rent Repayment Orders (RRO)".
- 1 2 "Rent Repayment Orders". Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment.
- ↑ Rent Repayment Orders A Tenants’ Guide, Dartford Council, See https://www.dartford.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/46661/Rent_Repayment_Orders-A_Tenants_Guide_08.pdf
- ↑ Building and Social Housing Foundation (2008) Home from Home: Addressing the Issues of Migrant Workers' Housing, Housing Conditions and Enforcement of Standards, p. 32
- ↑ Cowan, D. (2011), Housing Law and Policy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 68-69
- ↑ Denton-Ashly, G. (2013) Being a Landlord, Spiramus Press, p. 96
- ↑ http://www.bpf.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/BPF-brief-Housing-Planning-Bill-2015.pdf
- ↑ http://www.bpf.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/BPF-brief-Housing-Planning-Bill-2015.pdf
- ↑ http://www.bpf.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/BPF-brief-Housing-Planning-Bill-2015.pdf