Deposit Recovery Claims

11/02/2023

Cheap and free things to do during February half-term...

17/11/2022

24/06/2020

Structural issues? Problems with water, roof, heater, vermin or similar? We can help!

07/10/2019

RENT REPAYMENT ORDERS

The Housing Act 2016 was brought into force in April 2017 (Housing Act 2016) and provides Tenants with a right to claim compensation from their Landlords in the form of a Rent Repayment Order.
What is a Rent Repayment Order?
Councils and/or Tenants can apply to have a proportion of rent that they have paid in occupation of a property repaid to them by a Landlord where that Landlord has operated an unlicensed House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) or any other property that ought to have been licensed according to Local Authority regulations.
An Application is made to the First-tier (Property) Tribunal who can award up to 12 month’s rent to be repaid from the date of the Application.
A majority of HMOs remain unlicensed, however local authorities rarely prosecute more than a couple of cases per year. This means that the majority of Landlords are not being held to account by local Councils for breaching this law so it largely falls to the Tenants to do so.
Landlords who fail to ensure that they have the correct licences can also be seen to have failed in their other obligations such as gas inspections and smoke alarms testing and many will not conform to the myriad of health and safety legislation provisions that are required to ensure safe occupation for Tenants

Applications for a Rent Repayment Order are usually made on the following basis;
1. A HMO property has not been correctly licensed which should have been during the term of a tenancy

2. A tenant is or has suffered harassment by the landlord or the landlords agent

3. Landlord has breached a Prohibition notice an improvement order or a banning notice or improvement notice issued by the Local Authority

4. Violent entry by the landlord or agent

How long does it take from start to finish?
The time taken varies from Tribunal to Tribunal however all Tribunals have a duty to progress a case as speedily as possible. Normally we would expect a hearing and judgment within 3 to 4 months from the start of the case.

What is a House of Multiple Occupation/ HMO?
Currently mandatory licensing applies nationwide to HMOs that:

1. Are occupied by 5 or more people living in more than 1 household; and

2. The occupiers share basic amenities such as washing and cooking facilities.

We have a team of lawyers assisting tenants in the making of applications to the Tribunal for rent repayment orders which we do alongside our tenancy deposit reclaim work. If you think you may have a claim for a rent repayment order and fit the criteria above contact us and we will assess your claim for free and advise you if we believe it is one that is likely to succeed

07/10/2019

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_deductions_your_landlord_can_make

Landlords shouldn't make deductions from a tenancy deposit unless they can show financial loss, for example due to damage or unpaid rent

03/01/2019

BREAKING NEWS: Landlords are being held to account for failing to protect rent deposits. This could be bigger than PPI. Could you be owed £1000’s?

06/09/2017

If a Landlord fails to protect a deposit within 30 days, they'll be subject to a penalty - which gets paid to YOU!
Start your claim now at depositrecoveryclaims.co.uk

Landlords have an obligation to pay deposits received from Tenants into a deposit protection scheme. If they failed to do so, you may be entitled to £1000’s.

04/09/2017

'I received my tenancy deposit back from my landlord, can I still make a claim?' - Yes!

Here at Deposit Recovery Claims, we work to recover your tenancy deposit if it hasn’t been protected by your landlord within 30 days. That means that even if you received your original deposit back…