A Rent Repayment Order (RRO) is an order in the United Kingdom that allows a tenant or local authority to reclaim rent or housing benefit where a landlord rents out an unlicensed property such as a House in multiple occupation (HMO).

Rent Repayment Orders are not obtained through the court's 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. Local authorities can only apply for a Rent Repayment Order where occupiers pay their rent with the assistance of housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 changed when Rent Repayment Orders can be granted to include the following situations:

In addition, tenants under the new Act can apply for an RRO directly without the need for a prior conviction of the landlord through prosecution by a Local Authority (LA). LAs have (prior to the 2016 Act) prosecuted on average only one landlord per year for such offences. LAs have the power to impose unlimited fines or bring criminal charges. Fines for the above offences may be kept by the LA to fund enforcement in these areas.

There has been considerable variation in the awards received by tenants making RRO applications under the 2016 Housing and Planning Act and there is some discussion regarding the use of guidance given by the Upper Tribunal under the 2004 Housing Act for making judgments under the new Act.

A discussion of recent actual cases of tenant-instigated RRO applications, for the London area, can be found here.

Recent articles suggest RROs are becoming a powerful tool for tenants to gain redress for sub-standard accommodation.

The Renters' Rights Bill (RRB) plans to make significant changes to the use and power of RROs. The most significant changes are as follows: