London Tenant Services

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Renters’ Rights Reforms
Renters’ Rights reforms: what they mean for London tenants — and why it’s worth checking your Rent Repayment Order rights

New Tenant-favouring Laws

Recent changes to rental law — often referred to as the Renters’ Rights reforms — are intended to strengthen protections for tenants and improve standards in the private rented sector. Much of the focus has been on evictions and security of tenure, but an important point is often missed:

Tenants already have the right to recover rent where landlords break the law.

These rights did not begin with the new reforms and continue to apply today.
Rent Repayment Orders: an existing right many tenants don’t know about

Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, tenants can apply for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) where a landlord commits certain housing offences. An RRO can require a landlord to repay up to 12 months’ rent, even if the tenant has since moved out.

The most common example is renting out a property without the required licence, such as:

an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), or

a property subject to selective or additional licensing.

These breaches are far more common than many tenants realise.

“But I paid my rent — doesn’t that mean it was legal?”

No. Paying rent does not make an unlawful tenancy lawful.

Recent London cases show that tribunals continue to award RROs even where landlords argue that:

they relied on a letting agent,

the breach was accidental, or

tenants behaved badly.

The legal responsibility to comply with licensing and housing law always sits with the landlord.
Why the Renters’ Rights reforms matter here

The renewed emphasis on enforcement means: unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), or

greater scrutiny of landlord compliance,

more RRO claims being brought,

and many cases resolving through private settlement before reaching tribunal.

a property subject to selective or additional licensing.Tenants already have the right to recover rent where landlords break the law.

In other words, tenants are increasingly being encouraged — implicitly and explicitly — to enforce their existing rights.
How London Tenant Services can help

Determining whether a property should have been licensed, and whether rent may be recoverable, is not always straightforward. Rules vary by borough, and landlords rarely advertise non-compliance.

London Tenant Services helps tenants:

check whether a landlord breached licensing or housing rules,

assess potential eligibility for a Rent Repayment Order,

and navigate the process from initial checks through to settlement or tribunal where needed.

The legal responsibility to comply with licensing and housing law always sits with the landlord.
The takeaway

The Renters’ Rights reforms reinforce an important message: tenants do not have to accept unlawful renting.

If you are — or were — renting privately in London and have any doubt about whether your landlord complied with the law, it is worth checking. Many tenants are surprised by what they may be entitled to recover.
May 23, 2026
West London RRO

Tenants awarded over £21,000 in London Rent Repayment Order case

Tenant Payout

Tenants of a shared house in West London were awarded £21,771.68 in rent repayments after a tribunal found that their landlord had been operating the property as an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).

Since this case, new laws have been introduced to double tenant’s maximum possible rent repayment. Learn more here →.

Tenant-first Protection

The tribunal also confirmed that tenant behaviour does not remove a landlord’s legal obligation to comply with licensing requirements, and that Rent Repayment Orders exist to deter non-compliance and protect tenants’ rights.

Outcome

The landlord argued that he believed the property was licensed and blamed the failure on a former managing agent. However, the First-tier Tribunal ruled that landlords remain legally responsible for ensuring correct licensing and that he had failed to take reasonable steps to confirm that a valid licence was in place. As a result, the tribunal made a Rent Repayment Order requiring the landlord to repay rent to five tenants.

Full Report

Read the full report:

The Negotiator →

Cases like this demonstrate that Rent Repayment Orders are a real, enforceable legal remedy. While many cases resolve through private settlement before reaching tribunal, the law allows tenants to recover substantial sums where landlords fail to meet their legal obligations.

May 23, 2026
Barking and Dagenham Applicability
Why Barking & Dagenham may be London’s highest-risk borough for unlawful renting — and what that means for tenants
Our Data Analysis

London Tenant Services’ analysis indicates that Barking & Dagenham is likely the London borough with the highest concentration of properties exposed to Rent Repayment Orders (RROs).

This conclusion is not based on anecdote or isolated tribunal cases. It is the result of systematic, borough-level analysis using:

Office for National Statistics (ONS) housing data

council-published licensing information

Freedom of Information (FOI) responses

and privately procured property and rental datasets

Together, these sources point to a level of potential non-compliance that is materially higher than elsewhere in London — particularly in parts of the borough dominated by large, privately rented homes.
The key finding: a scale problem, not a one-off issue

LTS’s analysis shows that in some areas of Barking & Dagenham, as many as 94.7% of tenants renting 5-bedroom private properties may be living in homes that should be licensed but are not.

In practical terms, this means:

the property may be operating unlawfully, and

tenants in those homes could be eligible to recover rent through a Rent Repayment Order, subject to individual circumstances.

This level of exposure is significantly higher than in most other London boroughs we have assessed.
Why Barking & Dagenham stands out

Several structural factors converge in Barking & Dagenham:

a high concentration of large family homes converted into shared accommodation

strong demand from renters priced out of neighbouring boroughs

extensive selective and additional licensing requirements

and historically low visibility for tenants around licensing status

When these factors combine, the risk of unlicensed renting increases — often without tenants being aware that anything is wrong.
Working with council data — independently, and in the open

London Tenant Services has worked extensively with Barking & Dagenham Council data, including licensing registers, enforcement information, and FOI disclosures, to understand how the private rented sector operates in practice.

While LTS is independent and tenant-focused, our analysis is grounded in the same data councils themselves rely on to regulate housing standards.

This allows us to identify patterns and risk areas that are not visible to individual tenants — and are rarely surfaced proactively.
Why this matters for tenants

Many tenants assume that:

councils will automatically intervene if something is wrong, or

paying rent means the tenancy must be lawful.

Neither assumption is correct.

Where a landlord has failed to comply with licensing or other housing obligations, the law allows tenants to reclaim rent already paid, often covering many months of their tenancy.

Importantly, many cases never reach tribunal. Once non-compliance is identified, they frequently resolve through private settlement.
What makes London Tenant Services different

London Tenant Services is the only organisation we are aware of that proactively:

identifies borough-level risk using data,

pinpoints specific areas with high likelihood of unlawful renting, and

does so with the sole purpose of helping tenants understand and enforce their rights.

We do not wait for tenants to complain after the fact. We focus on finding where the risk already exists.
The takeaway

Barking & Dagenham is not just another London borough with isolated housing issues. The data suggests it may be the single most significant hotspot for potential Rent Repayment Orders in the capital.

For tenants renting large properties in the borough — particularly shared or multi-occupancy homes — the likelihood of being affected is far higher than most people realise.

If you rent privately in Barking & Dagenham and have never checked whether your property required a licence, it is worth doing so. The financial implications can be substantial.
May 23, 2026