# Rent repayment orders now reach two years of rent: what an unlicensed or unlawful let can cost a landlord client > From 1 May 2026 a tribunal can order a landlord to repay up to two years of rent. What counts, how the sum is built, and a worked HMO example. - Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/rent-repayment-order-two-years-rent-what-landlord-clients-risk/ - Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/) - Section: Letting agents, Compliance and safety - Published 6 October 2026 - Key fact: For a five-bedroom HMO let at £650 a month per room, two years of rent is 24 x £650 = £15,600 per tenant and 5 x £15,600 = £78,000 for the house; if £350 of each month's rent was paid by Universal Credit, only the tenant's own £300 counts, which is £7,200 per tenant and £36,000 for the house. Under the old 12-month limit the all-tenant figure was £39,000. - Sources: GOV.UK "Rent Repayment Orders: guidance for tenants" (gov.uk/guidance/rent-repayment-orders-guidance-for-tenants), updated 1 May 2026, read 2026-10-06; GOV.UK "Renters' Rights Act: an overview for landlords" (gov.uk/guidance/renters-rights-act-an-overview-for-landlords), updated 1 May 2026, read 2026-10-06; Housing and Planning Act 2016 Part 2 Chapter 4 (legislation.gov.uk), located 2026-10-06 but not read in full. The pound figures are our arithmetic on an invented house. Since 1 May 2026 a rent repayment order can require a landlord to repay up to two years of rent. Before the Renters' Rights Act 2025 the limit was one year. GOV.UK's overview for landlords, updated on 1 May 2026, puts it plainly: "The maximum amount a landlord can be ordered to pay has increased from 1 to 2 years' rent." For an agency the order is the landlord's liability, but it is your managed landlords who will ask what it means for them, and the facts that decide it sit on your files. ## What an order is A tenant, or a former tenant, applies to the First-tier Tribunal for the return of rent they paid while their landlord was committing an offence. GOV.UK's guidance for tenants lists offences that include: - running an unlicensed HMO, or an unlicensed house that needed a licence; - failing to comply with an improvement notice or a prohibition order; - illegal eviction and harassment; - using violence to enter the property; - breaching a banning order; - misusing a possession ground. The application has to be made within two years of the landlord committing the offence. The tenant need not still be renting, and need not have paid the landlord directly. Local councils can also apply where rent was paid through Universal Credit. Where a property is sublet down a chain, the guidance says a tenant "can apply for an RRO against any or all the landlords in the chain who you think committed an offence". Our guide to [HMO licence costs](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/reading-hmo-licence-cost-additional-licensing/) explains the licensing offence, and it notes that the longer period does not reach back before 1 May 2026. ## How the sum is built GOV.UK's tenant guidance says an award can be "up to two years' worth of rent you have paid". Two details matter: - Only rent the tenant paid themselves counts. The part met by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit is not the tenant's, though the council can claim it separately. - The tribunal looks at both sides' conduct. The page lists failure to make repairs, missing safety certificates, fire hazards and harassment against a landlord, and arrears, anti-social behaviour and damage against a tenant. Tenant misconduct reduces an award. So two years is a ceiling. The tribunal decides the amount in each case, and the guidance does not give a formula that reaches a figure for you. ## A house, worked out An invented five-bedroom HMO is let to five unrelated tenants at £650 a month each. Suppose the landlord let it for the full two years without a licence the house needed. | Step | Sum | Result | |---|---|---| | Rent per tenant, two years | 24 x £650 | £15,600 | | Ceiling for the house | 5 x £15,600 | £78,000 | | Under the old 12-month limit | 5 x 12 x £650 | £39,000 | | One tenant has £350 a month paid by Universal Credit, so their own share is £300 | 24 x £300 | £7,200 | | Ceiling if all five are in that position | 5 x £7,200 | £36,000 | These are ceilings on an invented house, not predictions. The point is scale: the new limit doubles the exposure, and the exposure is repeated for every tenant who applies. ## Where your files show the risk Go through each managed property and mark it up. 1. **Licence.** Is it an HMO, or in an area with additional or selective licensing? Is the licence in date, and does it match the number of occupiers? Our [compliance date tracker](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/lettings-compliance-date-tracker/) is where the expiry belongs. 2. **Notices.** Has the council served an improvement notice? Is the work done and recorded? 3. **Possession.** If a landlord client ever serves a notice, is the ground real and provable? Misusing a ground is an offence that can lead to an order. Our guide to [section 8 notices after the Act](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/section-8-notice-after-renters-rights-act/) covers the grounds. 4. **Safety certificates.** Gas, electrical and smoke alarm records are among the conduct items the tribunal weighs. 5. **Register and redress.** The PRS database and redress scheme duties are in our [guide to both](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/prs-database-landlord-ombudsman-agents/). ## What to say to a landlord client > Under the Renters' Rights Act a tenant can apply to the tribunal for up to two years of rent back if the property was let in breach of certain rules, such as being unlicensed. I have checked [address] against the list: [licence in date until [date] / no council notices on file / certificates in date]. The one item to act on is [item], by [date]. Do not tell a landlord what an award would be. Say what the ceiling is, what your file shows, and what needs doing. ## The agency's own position The HMO licensing offence can be committed by "any person having control of or managing the HMO", and our HMO guide explains that an agent can fall within it. This guide does not cover whether an agency can be ordered to repay rent; the GOV.UK overview we read does not address letting agents either, so take legal advice for a specific case. Overlyft ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/ours-badge.png) can set up an AI assistant that reads your managed-property list against licence and notice dates, raises the ones coming due, and hands every flagged property to a named person on your team to decide. This is general information for England, not legal advice. --- ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/owner-line.png) General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.