Last week the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Rakusen v Jepsen and others [2023] UKSC 9.

This appeal was in relation to Rent Repayment Orders ("RROs") and the failure by a residential landlord to obtain the appropriate licence for their property. Where the First-tier Tribunal ("FTT") is satisfied that a residential landlord has committed a housing-related offence, the FTT has jurisdiction to order a landlord to repay a specified amount of rent to the tenant. This power is conferred by Chapter 4 of Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. 

The FTT held that an RRO can only be made against the party to whom the rent is directly paid. Superior landlords can breathe a sigh of relief as they cannot be sanctioned by an RRO for an offence committed by an immediate landlord.