Three London landlords are to pay over £45,000 in rent back to their tenants following separate Tribunal decisions.

All three cases highlight the increasing risks of Rent Repayment Orders to landlords as tenants become more aware of the huge sums that can be claimed.

The biggest payment is by landlord Charles Manning who is to return nearly £18,000 to three tenants who lived in an HMO he controlled within a large apartment block (main picture, bottom right) in Islington, central London, that was not licenced during the period covered during 2023.

Islington council had brought in additional licencing for HMOs in 2020 but neither the landlord nor his managing agent had applied for a licence, something both parties admitted to the Tribunal.

Just half a mile away on a street near The Barbican another landlord, Helen Brown, is to repay three of her tenants £14,462 who had lived in her three-bedroom apartment above a shopping centre (main image, top right) during 2021/2022 but which, they discovered, had not been licenced under the same Islington scheme.

Defects

The Tribunal received evidence that the property had serious defects including an unreliable boiler and damp, plus alarms did not work or were missing and the landlord had attempted to evict the tenants via her managing agent. The landlord did not engage with the Tribunal process at any point.

The third landlord, duo Uzma and Taj Rafiq, are to repay £13,500  to three tenants who lived during 2022/23 at their five-bedroom flat in Neasden within a converted semi (main image, left), a property that was managed by an agent.

The Tribunal judged that the flat should have been licenced under Brent’s additional licencing scheme but had not been.

In addition, fire alarms in the property did not work, the tenants told the Tribunal, plus there was no fire blanket in the kitchen, the property lacked proper fire doors, the tenants’ deposits had not been protected and there had been arguments over repairs and maintenance.

The landlords also failed to produce an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a Gas Safety Certificate or the 'How to Rent' booklet at the outset of or during the tenancy as required by law.

All three landlords have 28 days to appeal the decisions.

As LandlordZONE reported recently, these fines are part of a bigger picture of increasing fines for the capital's landlords, which currently stand at £10 million.

Pic credits: Google Streetview.