A landlord has won a £17,000 Rent Repayment Order case brought by non-profit Justice for Tenants.
The claim alleged that a landlord had operated without a licence, seeking to claw back thousands in rent.
However, Landlord Licensing & Defence showed that a valid licence application had been lodged with the London Borough of Lewisham years prior, fully complying with legal requirements under the Housing Act 2004.
The firm said that despite no final licence being issued the active application provided complete statutory protection for the landlord.
Desmond Taylor, the casework director at Landlord Licensing & Defence, commented: “They came for £17,000, and left with nothing but a lesson in the law.
“Once again, we’ve demonstrated that we don’t just know the law — we enforce it properly.
“If a licence is duly applied for and the local authority sits on its hands, that’s their failure, not the landlord’s.
“Lewisham took the money, acknowledged the application, and failed to follow through. That’s not a criminal offence — it’s a bureaucratic cock-up.”
In February 2025 Landlord Licensing & Defence secured a full dismissal in Kamal Boulema & ORS v Hoppe-Foster Ventures Ltd, reinforcing that a valid licence application is a complete defence against such claims.
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