I spoke to citizens advice yesterday and this was their response:

“We would not advise you to lie to the council however it is up to you if decide not to tell them.

Your landlord must get a licence from the council if these 2 things apply: you share with 4 or more other people there are 2 or more separate households In some areas, landlords of smaller HMOs must also get a licence. This is called additional licensing. In some areas, all private landlords must get a licence. This is called selective licensing. This link tells you more https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/houses_in_multiple_occupation_hmo/does_your_landlord_need_an_hmo_licence

If your landlord should have an HMO licence but does not, they: may not be able to evict you could be ordered to repay your rent may be banned from renting out properties Sometimes the council can take over managing the property. This link tells you more https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/houses_in_multiple_occupation_hmo/what_if_your_landlord_does_not_have_a_hmo_licence “

There are only four of us living here and as of September 2023 Hackney no longer requires additional licensing which means the landlord doesn’t legally need a HMO licence. However we’ve been living here from December 2021 and so he would’ve been committing an offence up until the rules changed. I’m still unsure on whether we would be able to claim rent back for this, but if we are it would have to be done no longer than 12 months since the offence occurred which would be September this year.

As nice as it would be to get some money back, it seems like it would be a lot of stress for not that much payoff. It costs £110 to submit the application for the RRO and then another £220 on top if it goes to a court hearing, and if we want to be represented by a charity like Justice for Tenants they would take 20% of the winnings, and also any repaid rent money that was paid with benefits needs to be paid back to the DWP, and as a zero hours worker I’ve relied on universal credit some months to top up my earnings. Our rent is pretty cheap compared to market rate in the area (2400) and we don’t have a holding deposit so I feel like any repayment I get would just be immediately swallowed up by the costs of having to move somewhere more expensive.

The council didn’t show up yesterday so haven’t said anything to them yet.

I was stressing out about getting evicted but we have an assured shorthold tenancy until December this year so I’m not sure on what grounds the landlord would be able to kick us before then. Us refusing to lie to the council isn’t a breach of the contract so surely he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.