Rent repayment orders after the Renters' Rights Act: up to 24 months' rent

The Renters' Rights Act doubles the maximum rent repayment order from 12 to 24 months, extends it to superior landlords and company directors, and adds new offences. What GOV.UK says, and the records that protect you.

<pRent repayment orders (RROs) are a tenant-led enforcement tool. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 strengthens them. Everything below comes from the Government's published guidance.</p

<h2How an RRO works</h2 <pGOV.UK explains that where a tenant believes their landlord has committed a listed offence, they can apply to the <strongFirst-tier Tribunal</strong. If the Tribunal is satisfied <strongbeyond reasonable doubt</strong that the offence was committed, it can order the landlord to repay an amount of rent. Local authorities can also pursue RROs where rent was paid through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.</p

<h2What the Act changes</h2 <ul <liThe maximum amount doubles from <strong12 to 24 months' rent</strong.</li <liRROs are extended to <strongsuperior landlords and company directors</strong, targeting criminal rent-to-rent arrangements.</li <liLandlords previously subject to enforcement action for an offence will be <strongrequired to pay the maximum amount</strong if they commit that offence again.</li </ul

<h2New offences an RRO can follow</h2 <pGOV.UK lists the extensions as: knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground; breach of a restriction on letting or marketing a dwelling-house; continued tenancy reform breach after a financial penalty; continued breach of landlord redress scheme regulations after a financial penalty; providing false information to the PRS Database when purporting to comply; and continued failure to register with the PRS Database after a financial penalty.</p <pExisting offences already covered include violence for securing entry, eviction and harassment of occupiers, failure to comply with an improvement notice, control or management of an unlicensed house or HMO, and breach of a banning order.</p

<h2What reduces your exposure</h2 <pMost of the new offences are record-keeping failures rather than deliberate wrongdoing: registering on the PRS Database, joining the ombudsman scheme, and being able to show a possession ground was genuinely met. Keeping dated evidence of each is the practical defence.</p

<pSee what to put in place, and when, in our <a href="/renters-rights-act-2025-landlord-checklist"Renters' Rights Act 2025 landlord checklist</a.</p

<h2Official sources</h2 <ul <li<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act" rel="nofollow"GOV.UK — Guide to the Renters' Rights Act</a</li <li<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/contents" rel="nofollow"legislation.gov.uk — Renters' Rights Act 2025</a</li </ul <p<emEngland only. General information, not legal advice.</em</p

Sources: - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/contents

Published: 2026-08-10.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-30.

General summary; not legal advice.