The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) allowed a landlord's appeal against a rent repayment order for an unlicensed flat in Edmonton, after a licensing portal rejected an application for the address.
Key facts
- Who: The landlord and tenants of a flat at 1a Orpington Gardens, Edmonton, in a case about a rent repayment order for an unlicensed house
- From: Judgment date: 20 April 2026
- Source: Nonyelu Chukwudozie Okoye v Leena Zachariah & Anor [2026] UKUT 155 (LC)
Background
In Nonyelu Chukwudozie Okoye v Leena Zachariah & Anor [2026] UKUT 155 (LC), decided on 20 April 2026, Martin Rodger KC, Deputy Chamber President, heard an appeal from the First-tier Tribunal, Property Chamber (FTT). The FTT had ordered Mr Nonyelu Okoye to repay £8,844.95 in rent to Leena Zachariah and Simon Raju, whom it found had been his tenants at a flat at 1a Orpington Gardens in Edmonton.
The order was made under section 40 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The offence was under section 95(1) of the Housing Act 2004: having control of or managing a house that must be licensed under Part 3 of that Act but is not. The FTT found the offence was committed from the start of the letting on 1 March 2022.
The flat belonged to Mr Okoye's wife. Mr Okoye said that when she tried to obtain a licence through the local housing authority's online portal, she was unable to do so for more than four months because the portal did not recognise the property's address and rejected the application.
The questions
Mr Okoye appealed on two grounds. First, that the FTT was wrong to find he was the landlord, because the flat belonged to his wife, and that no rent repayment order can be made against a person who is not the tenant's immediate landlord. Second, that the FTT was wrong not to accept that he had a reasonable excuse for having control of the flat without a licence.
The decision
The appeal was allowed.
The reasoning
On ground 1, the Tribunal dismissed the challenge. It held the FTT was entitled to find Mr Okoye was the landlord. An unsigned draft tenancy agreement named him as landlord and gave his daughter's contact details, there was no evidence of any arrangement under which he acted as his wife's agent, and he did not challenge the point until the hearing itself. The Tribunal said a rent repayment order can only be made against the landlord, while the offence depends on who had control of the property, and that the FTT had run the two questions together.
Mr Okoye gave an explanation at the appeal, which he said came from his daughter after the FTT's decision, but gave no reason why it could not have been given earlier. The Tribunal said it was not inevitable it would have been accepted, and the FTT's decision could not be interfered with on a version of the facts presented for the first time on appeal.
On ground 2, the Tribunal noted there was no dispute about the primary facts after 27 September 2022. An application for a licence for 1 Orpington Gardens was successfully submitted that day, but the application for No. 1a was rejected because the portal appeared not to recognise the address. The judge saw no reason to doubt that, had the portal accepted the application, the offence would have ceased that day.
Mr Cairns, for the respondents, confirmed it was not their case that Mr or Mrs Okoye could or should have done anything further after 27 September 2022. The Tribunal said it did not know what the FTT meant by calling the problem a "lawful impediment" and did not see why the legality of the impediment was relevant. The important fact was that an attempt was made to apply for a licence but the application could not be completed.
What this means for landlords and tenants
A rent repayment order can only be made against the landlord, and the tribunal must separately be satisfied that an offence was committed by the person having control of the property.
The Upper Tribunal found the FTT was entitled to infer from the unsigned draft agreement, and the absence of any other explanation, that Mr Okoye was the landlord. Anyone facing a rent repayment claim should check their tenancy documents and get advice before any hearing or deadline.
Sources
- Nonyelu Chukwudozie Okoye v Leena Zachariah & Anor [2026] UKUT 155 (LC), Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), 20 April 2026: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/lc/2026/155