The facts
7.In 2019 the first respondent, Mrs Nehizena Uyiekpen and the second respondent, Thrilla Gukuta, came across guidance on the internet explaining how to make money from a “rent-to-rent strategy”. They studied the guidance and decided, as Mrs Uyiekpen put it, “to get into the property game”. 8.On 28 November 2019 Mrs Uyiekpen took an assured short-hold tenancy of a recently completed four-bedroom house in Newham. In her evidence she described the house as “high end”. The tenancy was arranged by Foxtons, as agents for the owner, and was for a period of 2 years at a rent of £3,200 a month. It included a term that the tenant would not sublet the property without the prior consent of the landlord. Mrs Uyiekpen did not intend to occupy the property herself, but nor did she ask for consent to sublet it.9.Mrs Uyiekpen and Ms Gukuta agreed that they would use the name TNG International Properties to let the property to sub-tenants (TNG being Ms Gukuta’s initials). Ms Gukuta was to be responsible for day-to-day contact with the tenants, who paid their rent into her bank account.10.The house has four bedrooms and a living room which was also to be used as a bedroom so that there would be five tenants at any one time. Three of the five appellants (Helen Camfield, Ryan Donnelly and Rohail Rafi) became tenants in December 2019. Nicole Ducasse became a tenant in January 2020.11.At the start of the arrangement the fifth tenant was Ms Kate Tseng. She took a tenancy of one room on 21 December 2019 and remained a tenant until 21 March 2020. The basic facts about Ms Tseng’s tenancy were recorded in the appellants’ evidence to the FTT. They were confirmed in a witness statement by Ms Gukuta who provided the additional information that Ms Tseng had paid £2,850 in rent during the three months of her occupation. There was therefore no dispute that between 19 January 2020 when Nicole Ducasse moved in and 21 March 2020 when Kate Tseng moved out the house had been occupied by five individuals living in separate households. 12.Mr Donelly moved out on 30 April 2020 and it was not until 6 June 2020 that there were again five people living in the property. On that date someone known only as Ali moved in but he stayed for only 8 days, moving out on 14 June.13.On 25 July 2020 the two vacant rooms in the house were let by the respondents to a Brazilian family of five, including three children under the age of six, who were said by Mrs Uyiekpen to be in desperate need of short-term accommodation. The arrival of the family led one of the appellants to contact Foxtons, who immediately required Mrs Uyiekpen to bring the sub-tenancies to an end, which the respondents promptly did. The circumstances in which the last of the residents was encouraged to leave at short notice were the subject of an allegation of unlawful eviction but the FTT was not satisfied that an offence had been proven and that allegation does not form any part of this appeal.