RRO for an unlicensed HMO under the new 24-month window: the tenant walkthrough (RRA, 2026)

If you live in a shared house with two or more separate households, there is a serious chance your landlord needs an HMO licence to rent it to you. If they do not have one and have not had one for some of the time you have been there, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a Rent Repayment Order asking for up to 24 months of your rent back. The 24-month figure is new from 1 May 2026. It used to be 12. The doubling is one of the most under-publicised tenant wins of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

This walkthrough is for the tenant who suspects their place is an unlicensed HMO and wants to work out, without paying anyone, whether they have a viable claim. The free RentSOS check is built around rent-increase notices rather than RROs, but the underlying method - read the documents, find the procedural defect, write the right paperwork - travels.

Quick test: am I in an HMO?

There are two HMO tests under the Housing Act 2004 as updated by the Renters' Rights Act. Either is enough.

Standard HMO test (any HMO). A property is an HMO if three or more occupants from two or more separate households share a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet. "Household" means a single family unit or a single person. Three flatmates from three different families is two-plus households. Three siblings is one household.

Mandatory licensing test (the strict, always-licensable HMO). Five or more occupants from two or more households. Every property that meets this test must be licensed by the local authority. There is no discretion.

In between there is a third tier - additional licensing - which is local-authority specific. Many councils require licensing for any HMO of three-or-more, regardless of household count. Check the council's website for an "additional HMO licensing scheme" page. If the property's postcode falls in an additional licensing area, the standard-HMO three-or-more test applies and the landlord needs a licence.

If you meet the mandatory test (five-plus), the licence requirement is automatic. If you meet only the standard test (three-or-four), you need to check whether the council has additional licensing.

What changed on 1 May 2026

Two RRO changes matter.

The window doubled to 24 months. For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, the FTT can order up to 24 months' rent back. For offences committed before 1 May 2026 the old 12-month cap applies. If the unlicensed period straddles 1 May 2026, the tribunal can apply the relevant cap to each segment.

The offence list expanded. The Renters' Rights Act added new offences to the RRO list - including breaches of the new PRS Database requirements and certain offences under the new possession regime. Unlicensed HMO has been on the list since the start; the expansion adds new tenant routes alongside it.

The result is that a tenant who has been in an unlicensed HMO for, say, two and a half years across the 1 May 2026 threshold may be looking at a claim covering most of that tenancy.

How tenants miss the claim

Three patterns we see most often.

Pattern 1 - assuming the property has a licence because the landlord says it does. Landlords rarely lie outright. They do sometimes confuse "I applied for one" with "I have one", or assume the agent has dealt with it. The PRS Database (live since 1 May 2026) makes verification a one-minute job that costs nothing.

Pattern 2 - confusing HMO licensing with selective licensing. These are two different regimes. Selective licensing applies to single-household rentals in designated areas. HMO licensing applies to shared accommodation as defined above. A landlord with a selective licence does not have an HMO licence. The RRO route is the same in principle but the paperwork is different.

Pattern 3 - moving out before claiming. RROs can be claimed up to two years after the offence. You do not need to be in the property when you apply. But the evidence is easier to assemble while you are still there. Build the file before you leave.

The three-check process

Check 1 - confirm the HMO classification. Count occupants and households. Five-plus = mandatory HMO. Three-to-four in an additional licensing area = HMO under that area's scheme. Two households or fewer = not an HMO under standard rules.

If you are not sure about the additional licensing question, search "[council name] additional HMO licensing" or check the council's housing pages. If the council has a scheme, you can usually enter the postcode to see if it applies.

Check 2 - confirm the licence absence. Go to the PRS Database (live from 1 May 2026 at gov.uk - the GOV.UK portal links to the operational database). Search by address. If a current HMO licence is recorded, the licence is in place and the RRO route fails. If no licence is recorded, you have step one of the evidence pack.

Belt and braces: check the council's own HMO licensing register, which most councils publish online. Note the date of the search and screenshot the result. If both registers show no licence, you have a clean evidence pack on step one.

Also check for a Temporary Exemption Notice. A landlord who is in the process of bringing the property up to licensing standard can get a TEN that gives them a defence. If the council has issued one for the period of your tenancy, the RRO route fails for that period.

Check 3 - calculate the eligible window. RROs can be claimed for offences in the last two years. If the unlicensed period was, say, 1 March 2025 to 31 October 2026, the claim runs back two years from the date of application. For offences before 1 May 2026, the 12-month cap applies; after, 24. The FTT splits the calculation across the threshold.

You do not need to be exact at this stage. The point is to confirm there is a claim worth pursuing.

The evidence pack

The FTT wants documents, not stories. Build the pack methodically. You should have:

1. Your tenancy agreement. Dated, signed, identifying you and the landlord.
2. Rent payment records. Bank statements highlighting each rent payment, ideally for the full claim period.
3. Proof the property is an HMO. Names of co-occupants, who is in which household, when each moved in. A signed statement from co-occupants strengthens this.
4. PRS Database search result. Screenshot showing no licence, dated.
5. Council HMO register search result. Screenshot showing no licence, dated.
6. (If relevant) any council correspondence. Any letter or email from the council confirming the property is unlicensed.
7. Photographs. Internal photos of the shared kitchen, bathroom, and circulation areas. Useful if the landlord later argues the layout did not meet the HMO test.

Keep all of this in one folder. The FTT requires you to upload an evidence bundle with the Form RRO1 application.

The Form RRO1 application

Form RRO1 is the FTT application form. It is downloadable from gov.uk and is structured around the offence being claimed (unlicensed HMO, in this case), the period of the offence, and the amount being claimed.

The amount claimed is up to 100 per cent of the rent paid in the eligible period. The FTT often awards less than 100 per cent, particularly where the landlord can show some mitigating circumstances - but the starting position is rent paid. Calculate the total rent paid in the claim period and put that in as the headline figure.

The FTT must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offence was committed. This is the criminal-standard burden, which can sound intimidating, but the offence is binary: the property either was an HMO and unlicensed during the claim period, or it was not. The PRS Database screenshot and the household count usually settle it.

There is no fee to apply.

What if the landlord settles before tribunal

About a third of RRO claims settle once the landlord receives the application. A typical settlement is 40-60 per cent of the rent paid, paid quickly without going to tribunal. Whether to accept is a tenant call.

Two practical points:

• A settlement removes the tribunal risk - the small risk that the FTT awards less than the settlement figure.
• A settlement is a contract. Make it written and explicit. The landlord pays figure X within Y days, the tenant withdraws the application, and no party speaks publicly about it.

If the offer is below 40 per cent or comes with restrictive terms (no negative reference, no future complaints) consider pushing on to the tribunal. The FTT's median award in 2024-2025 was around 65 per cent of rent paid.

What NOT to do

Three traps to flag.

Do not stop paying rent. Withholding rent does not strengthen the RRO claim - it gives the landlord a possession ground that defeats the RRO benefit. Keep paying. The RRO is about getting rent back, not about stopping rent now.

Do not mention the RRO before the application is in. Forewarned landlords sometimes apply for a TEN, change the household composition, or get a licence in the gap. The PRS Database search before application is the snapshot you want on record.

Do not run a parallel claim that undercuts the RRO. A tenant who sues for disrepair and gets damages can still claim the RRO - but a tenant who has previously accepted a "deposit settlement" that included a no-further-claims clause may have signed away the RRO. Read any settlement before signing. If you have already signed something that uses words like "in full and final settlement of all claims", get advice before applying.

What if the local authority has already prosecuted

If the council has prosecuted the landlord for the licensing offence, the RRO claim becomes easier - the conviction is admissible evidence that the offence was committed, and the FTT does not need to be satisfied separately to the criminal standard. The two-year window runs from the date of the offence, not from the date of conviction, so do not wait. Apply in parallel.

If the council has issued a financial penalty rather than prosecuting, the same logic applies - the penalty notice is documentary evidence of the offence.

Where the RentSOS check fits

The free RentSOS check is built around rent-increase notices, not RROs, so it will not directly help with the HMO licensing question. But many tenants in unlicensed HMOs also receive Form 4A rent increases, and a procedurally invalid Form 4A is its own challenge route. If you are facing both, run the free check first - the rent-increase letter buys you time and keeps the landlord at arm's length while the RRO application is in.

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Frequently asked questions

My landlord says they have applied for the HMO licence. Does that protect them?

Not on its own. The licensing offence is "renting an unlicensed HMO", and it is committed every day the property is unlicensed. A pending application does not stop the offence. Only a Temporary Exemption Notice from the council (an explicit decision, not just an application receipt) gives the landlord a defence, and TENs are time-limited.

How long does an RRO application take?

The FTT aims to determine RRO applications within six months of the application. In practice 4-9 months is typical. Most of the time is procedural - the landlord's response, document exchange, sometimes a short hearing. About a third settle before the hearing.

What if I share a kitchen with one other person from another household?

That is two households sharing - one short of the standard HMO test (which is three-or-more). Two-household sharing is not an HMO under HMO licensing rules. Some other tenant protections apply (deposit protection, repairs, harassment), but the RRO route specifically requires HMO classification.

What if I have moved out - can I still claim?

Yes. RROs can be claimed within two years of the offence, regardless of whether you still live at the property. Move-outs are a normal time to consider an RRO because the tenant relationship is over and there is no day-to-day downside. Build the evidence pack before you hand over the keys if you can.

Does this work the same way for unlicensed selective-licensing properties?

The RRO route is essentially the same but the offence is different. Selective licensing is for single-household lets in designated areas. If your single-household tenancy is in a selective licensing area and the landlord has no licence, you can apply for an RRO on the selective-licensing offence. The PRS Database covers both. The household-count check is replaced by a "is the property in a selective licensing area?" check on the council's website.

Key takeaways

• The Renters' Rights Act 2025 doubled the RRO maximum from 12 to 24 months' rent for offences from 1 May 2026. Earlier offences keep the 12-month cap.
• The HMO check is two questions: is the property three-plus people from two-plus households (or five-plus for the mandatory test), and is there a current licence on the PRS Database?
• The evidence pack is documentary - tenancy agreement, rent payments, PRS Database screenshot, council register screenshot, household composition. Build it methodically.
• Form RRO1 is the application route. No fee. The FTT must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, but the offence is usually documentary.
• Keep paying rent. Do not tip off the landlord before applying. Settlements happen often and at around 40-60 per cent of rent paid - decide whether to accept based on the FTT's typical 65 per cent median.