As a landlord, if you let a house to sharing occupants who are not a family unit and pay rent separately, this is classed as an HMO. HMO is also known as a Homes in Multiple Occupation. If you have an HMO there are certain rules and regulations that you and your property must comply to.
In this blog we give you more details on an HMO. As a property management company, we deal with a lot of landlords and help them manage their HMO properties. If you would like us to take the stress away from managing your HMO property – call our team now.
What Is An HMO?
A rented property is classed as a House in Multiple occupation is it is occupied by five or more people, or it forms two or more households. These households will share the facilities within the home, such as the bathrooms or kitchen. An HMO is not dependent on the number of storeys that the house has.
A Landlords Responsibilities When Letting An HMO
As well as the standard legal responsibilities you have as a landlord, there are extras as a landlord of an HMO. For example, you need to ensure that smoke detectors are installed in every room. The electrics within the property need to be checked every five years. There need to be adequate cooking and washing facilities for the tenants in the home too. All communal areas within the property need to be clean and in good repair. The same goes for any shared facilities.
You must also ensure that the property is not overcrowded. There should be a separate room for each sleeping in, for each separate couple, each single person over the age of 18 years old.
What Are The Room Sizes?
All rented rooms should be no smaller than 10 metre square for a single letting. If the HMO property has a communal lounge, then this can be reduced to 7 metre square. Double rooms within an HMO needs to be 15 metre square. Again, if there is a communal lounge then this can be 11 metre square.
If you would like your property to be an HMO you will need to get a licence from the local council, for certain properties. You can not let the rooms to tenants until you have this license. If you use your property as an HMO and rent it out to tenants without a licence you could risk a fine of up to £20,000.
Need help with your HMO? Call us now.
