Flat 2, 74 Leander Road SW2 2LJ
LON/00AY/HMF/2022/0128 · Lambeth · decided 14 Feb 2025 · rent repayment order
old rules| Offence | Unlicensed HMO |
|---|---|
| Landlord | Individual |
| Applicants | 3 tenants |
| Rent | not stated as one figure |
| Period the order relates to | 9 Dec 2021 to 8 Jun 2022 |
| Maximum the tribunal could award | £14,446.03 |
| Amount the tribunal ordered | £3,611.33 per applicant on average; £10,834 in total for 3 applicants |
| Share of the maximum | 75%, as the tribunal stated it |
| Tribunal fees to be reimbursed | £320 |
| Rules | Old rules (offence before 1 May 2026): maximum 12 months' rent. |
Read from the PDF automatically. Amounts are totals for the decision, across all its applicants.
From the tribunal's reasons on the amount
default and the time when that objectively reasonable excuse ceased. In doing so, it should take into account the experience and other relevant attributes of the taxpayer and the situation in which the taxpayer found himself at the relevant time or times. It might assist the FTT, in this context, to ask itself the question "was what the taxpayer did (or omitted to do or believed) objectively reasonable for this taxpayer in those circumstances?" 49. The Tribunal then dealt with a particular point which is regularly encountered in HMO licensing cases and which therefore merits attention: "82. One situation that can sometimes cause difficulties is when the taxpayer's asserted reasonable excuse is purely that he/she did not know of the particular requirement that has been shown to have been breached. It is a much-cited aphorism that "ignorance of the law is no excuse", and on occasion this has been given as a reason why the defence of reasonable excuse cannot be available in such circumstances. We see no basis for this argument. Some requirements of the law are well-known, simple and straightforward but others are much less so. … The Respondent resisted the application on the grounds he had a reasonable excuse for the entirety of the relevant period. Firstly he says that he did not know how many people were living in the property throughout the material time. …
An extract from the part of the decision that sets the amount. To keep people's names out, any sentence that might contain one is left out (marked …). The full reasons are in the original decision.
The original
Other rent repayment orders near SW2 2LJ · Licensing schemes and register for SW2 2LJ
Past decisions are not a prediction. The tribunal decides each case on its facts, including the landlord's and tenant's conduct.