Landlord hit with £35,800 rent repayment order for unlicensed HMO
First Tier Tribunal rules that it is the landlord named on the tenancy agreement of an unlicensed Westminster property who must pay the fine, not his letting agent.
A landlord has been ordered to repay rent totalling £35,800 after a First-tier Tribunal found he had been running an unlicensed HMO in central London.
The property, a basement flat at Flat 4a, Hyde Park Mansions, Transept Street, NW1 (main image), was let to four house sharers between 2022 and 2024 without the required licence under Westminster Council’s additional HMO scheme, which was introduced across the borough in August 2021.
Justice for Tenants
The tenants, represented by Justice for Tenants, applied for a rent repayment order after confirming with the council that no licence had been issued.
Benjamin Lam, who runs a £50 million property portfolio, told the Tribunal that the leasehold was owned by Benjamin Lam & Company Ltd and that he had relied on his letting agent, Ms Semmence, to arrange the HMO licence.
The Tribunal, however, rejected his argument, ruling Lam was “the landlord at the material time” because he had signed the tenancy agreement and managed the property directly.
When the council’s inspectors visited the property, they found damp, mould and missing smoke alarms. The tribunal heard, though, that when his tenants had complained, Lam had told them that they were responsible for carrying out repairs under what he described as a “user pays” principle.
An extremely poor grasp of English Landlord and Tenant law.”
It led to Judge Nicol telling Lam that he had “an extremely poor grasp of English Landlord and Tenant law” and described his failure to license the flat as “deliberate rather than inadvertent”.
Lam was found to have committed an offence under section 72(1) of the Housing Act 2004 and was ordered to repay 80% of the total rent for the 12-month period, a total of £35,814.24, plus tribunal fees of £337.
The tribunal also confirmed that while superior landlords or agents may commit licensing offences, rent repayment orders can only be made against the landlord named on the tenancy agreement, leaving Lam personally liable for the full amount.
You can read the full details of the case here.
