Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences

Landlords are reminded that the deadline of 1 October 2018 is getting close for applications for House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences. Under new Government rules landlords and letting agents have to apply for an HMO licence for most properties in which five or more people from two or more unrelated families live.

Any landlord of an HMO or their agent failing to do this by October 1 will be committing a criminal offence. Landlords and agents who do not licence a licensable HMO will be prosecuted or face a civil penalty of up to £30,000 for each offence as well as a potential rent repayment order for up to one year’s rent. In addition they could also be added to a national database of rogue landlords and property agents and even receive an order banning them from letting out a house in England or engaging in property management work.

As part of the new measures, the Government is introducing national minimum room sizes for rooms used for sleeping and mandatory HMO licence conditions relating to refuse storage and disposal.

Mandatory HMO licensing is being extended because of concerns about the number of HMOs operated by landlords who rent out sub-standard, overcrowded and dangerous accommodation, exploit vulnerable tenants and in some cases defraud the public purse.

Most councils currently have housing standards officers pro-actively inspecting private rented properties in their areas to improve property conditions, which will also identify any unlicensed HMOs.

If you would like to discuss any of the licence issues mentioned above or have other questions relating to landlord and tenant situations please do not hesitate to get in touch.