HMO - help needed

maria1981

Hi,

I would appreciate some legal advice.
I live in what is classified as House in Multiple occupation (I have phoned council today). The property is a two storey flat and there is six people living inside (all unrelated to each other, moved in at different times, separate tenancy agreements, separate room keys). We are not students.

I was just reading my contract today and there is a clause:

"the tenant hereby agrees not to live in such a manner as to cause it to be classified or regarded as HMO"

then a little later on

"The tenant undertakes and shall obtain from persons sharing the household an undertaking that they will:
-live as a single household
- share all rooms and facilities in a manner they would be shared by a family"
"
In the event of breach the money spent on licening will be deducted from deposit (not the exact words but translation"

My question is:
1: Is it illegal clause?
2: Can I notfy council, since HMO licencing is mandatory?
3: Since landlord likely knows it`s HMO, can I ask court for repayment order (I know you can ask for up to 12 months worth)?
4: Anything I should be aware of?

Any opinion is welcome. I will be moving out in four weeks if that`s any use.

Thanks,

Maria

PasturesNew

It sounds to me like your numpty of a landlord is trying to get round the law by his stupid use of English language to try to rewrite the legislation.

I have no legal training or understanding, but my clueless responses to your questions would be:

1. No.
2. I would, the git deserves what's coming to him.
3. No idea what that means.
4. LL is likely to throw a hissy fit and kick you all out. Make sure your deposit's protected and you have good photographic evidence of the state you leave the place in.

TJ27

It's an old contract clause and refers to the old definition of HMO. Previously, people who were not related but lived like a family were usually not classed as living in a HMO. That's no longer the case.

Mandatory licensing only applies to houses of 3 or more storeys. Houses in flats are also specifically excluded. Your council might run some sort of additional or selective licensing though. Call them and ask.

If your landlady has been to court and convicted of not licensing, and the house is licensable, then you may indeed be able to apply for a rental repayment order and get back up to one years rent. This happened in my area quite recently. First the landlord was fined about £5k and got himself a criminal record. Then he had to give about £8k back to his tenants. Then he had to licence the house anyway.

There might be other stuff you should be aware of but like what? Might be best to call your local council and ask them to visit.

carmel11

Sorry to hijack this,but don't yet know how to start a thread.A friend is just about to rent a room in a shared house.The deposit is two months rent.Landlord says he bypasses the government protected scheme,and asks for this.Why would he bypass it?my friend has alreadt paid a weeks rent to reserve it.What about a written agreement?

poppysarah

He bypasses it because he's a "wrong 'un"?

MX5huggy

carmel11 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this,but don't yet know how to start a thread.A friend is just about to rent a room in a shared house.The deposit is two months rent.Landlord says he bypasses the government protected scheme,and asks for this.Why would he bypass it?my friend has alreadt paid a weeks rent to reserve it.What about a written agreement?

Tell your friend to run a mile and forget about the weeks rent and put it down to experience and buy him a pint.

What else is this LL going to bypass! Gas checks.

Your friend can't even pull the not paying the last months rent trick to get his money back! because there is 2 months rent!

carmel11

poppysarah wrote: »

He bypasses it because he's a "wrong 'un"?

Can you explain a bit more,as I doubt he will listen if i only have half the story

poppysarah

carmel11 wrote: »

Can you explain a bit more,as I doubt he will listen if i only have half the story

For tenants a deposit should go in a deposit scheme. That's the protection you have from dodgy landlords running off with it.
To want to avoid doing that is dodgy.

Pobby

This is just another indication of what happens when much of the housing in the U.K is supplied by private landlords. Don`t get me wrong as I am sure many landlords provide suitable rentals and have done so for many years. However some of the people that have been piling in during the last few years are clueless. I feel that there needs to be far more regulation if private letting is to work in a proper manner.

sooz

carmel11 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this,but don't yet know how to start a thread.A friend is just about to rent a room in a shared house.The deposit is two months rent.Landlord says he bypasses the government protected scheme,and asks for this.Why would he bypass it?my friend has alreadt paid a weeks rent to reserve it.What about a written agreement?

I think some of the answers to this have been a little harsh.

Does the LL live in the house your friend is planning to rent a room in? In which case he would be a lodger not a tenant, and as such the LL doesn't need to protect his deposit.
Or perhaps he's been asked to pay 2 month's rent in advance, rather than a deposit, as the RLA recommend? See http://www.rla.org.uk/news/latest.shtml?post=173

Yes - ideally your friend should have a written agreement, & he should get a chance to read it before he signs it.

If the last gas safety check was undertaken in December, it is valid til the following December. Your friend should ask to see a copy of this.

Premier_2

carmel11 wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this,but don't yet know how to start a thread.A friend is just about to rent a room in a shared house.The deposit is two months rent.Landlord says he bypasses the government protected scheme,and asks for this.Why would he bypass it?my friend has alreadt paid a weeks rent to reserve it.What about a written agreement?

If it's a deposit, it should be protected (assuming it falls within the terms of the legislation)

If it's rent in advance, it doesn't need to be protected. Rent in advance is just that and cannot be used to make deductions from e.g. dilapidations at the end of the tenancy.

Does the LL also live in the house? If so, its not an ASTA so there is no requirement for the deposit to be protected.

What about a written agreement?