Jargon Buster

A plain-English glossary of the abbreviations and terms you will come across when making a Rent Repayment Order application.

HMO

House of Multiple Occupation.

LA

Local Authority — council or borough.

FTT

First-tier Tribunal.

RPT

Residential Property Tribunal.

CMC

Case Management Conference.

AST

Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

RRO

Rent Repayment Order.

HPA

Housing and Planning Act — e.g. HPA (2004) refers to the 2004 Act.

Respondent

The party that responds to your claim in a Tribunal case — e.g. the landlord.

Section 257 HMO

A block of self-contained flats can still be classed as one whole HMO, even if the individual units are only occupied by one or two people. If the building was converted into flats before 1992 or does not meet the 1991 Building Regulations, and over a third of the flats are rented out, then the whole building will be deemed a HMO — see Section 257 of the Housing Act 2004.

TRO

Tenancy Relations Officer (from the LA).

CPN

Civil Penalty Notice. CPNs can be imposed on landlords by Local Authorities under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 — up to £30,000.

PFEA

Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

HA

Housing Act 2004.

HaPA

Housing and Planning Act 2016.

SPT

Statutory Periodic Tenancy. What you have when your fixed term finishes without signing a new term — also called a “rolling tenancy”. You can give one month's notice; the landlord needs to give two months' notice.