A mother and son landlord duo are to repay their former tenants £15,000 in a case highlighting how the rent repayment order system can be very one-sided.

The money is to repaid to the tenants despite them owing £11,000 in unpaid rent some 14 months after they moved out.

Landlord Mrs Jasu Daryanani and her son, who confirmed he managed the property on his mother’s behalf, had rented out the house to three tenants for £2,145 a month for at least a year during late 2021 and much of 2022.

The house (main picture) which is a two-bedroom, two storey semi in Kilburn, North London, is covered by Westminster council’s five-year additional licencing scheme for smaller HMOs, which came into force during August 2021.

Licenced

The three tenants, who all appear to be of Eastern European nationality, discovered the property had not been licenced as a small HMO and the court agreed that it should have been as it was occupied by at least ‘three people living in two or more separate households’.

It was also disclosed that the house had suffered from water ingress and damp during the period covered by the claim, and that repairs had been insufficient to stop the problem re-occurring. Also, decorative works had not been completed following the repairs. The landlord and her son disputed these claims during the hearing.

In mitigation, Mrs Daryanani son said he had enquired about a licence for the property in March 2021 and, although he was told it would not require one, was informed that an additional licencing scheme was being considered for smaller HMOs. When this scheme did go live, a licence was not applied for, despite follow-up reminder emails.

But the tenants had also built up some £11,000 in rent arrears, sums which remain largely unpaid.

Given the rent arrears situation, but on the other hand also taking in to account that the landlord and her son are experienced in the sector, the original claim of £25,000 has been reduced to £15,000, the Tribunal decided.