Can a Rent Repayment Order only be made against an Immediate Landlord or can a Superior Landlord also be liable?

Martin Rakusen was the leaseholder of a flat and he granted a tenancy to Kensington Property Investment Group Limited (KPIG) through his managing agent Hamptons International.

KPIG then entered into agreements with tenants to let the rooms on individual sub-agreements. The flat was a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and needed licensing under the additional licensing scheme operating in LB Camden.

The tenants applied for a Rent Repayment Order against the Superior Landlord - Martin Rakusen.

Martin Rakusen denies that he committed an offence and wanted the application struck out at the First-tier Tribunal. The grounds for the strikeout were that an application for a Rent Repayment Order can only be made against an Immediate Landlord of the person(s) making the application.

The First-tier Tribunal refused the strike out, holding Martin Rakusen was “a” landlord, albeit not “the” landlord of the applicants.

The Upper Tribunal dismissed Mr Rakusen’s appeal holding that it can be made against a Superior Landlord.

The court of appeal allowed the appeal holding that it could not be made against the Superior Landlord

The case is now in front of the Supreme Court waiting for determination, so here we cover why, what, the hearing from the day, and what it means.

The Supreme Court case regarding ‘can a Rent Repayment Order be made against a Superior Landlord’ was heard on the 26th of January and we await the determination of the panel of five superior judges on what is possible.

Why is this important?
Currently, as things stand, a Rent Repayment Order under case law can only be made against the Immediate Landlord. In short this means the landlord whose name is on the tenancy.