Applying for 'House of Multiple Occupancy' License

crazy088

Hi all

In a nutshell, my problem is as follows.

A year ago I mis-read the requirements for the HMO License and continued to let my properties to students.
Recently I have realized that one of my houses is not exempt ie. has 4 students over 3 floors (terrace, 1*ground, 2*first floor, 1*attic).

How do I go about obtaining a license without incurring penalties?

Thanks in advance,

crazy088

clutton_2

contact your local authority housing department at once - and talk to their HMO officer - if you come clean they are not likely to penalise you - if they find you - they will.

Rick62

The HMO was only introduced last April, 9 months ago I thought - as Clutton says they are unlikely to get punative just because you took a few months to realise.

TJ27

If you have only 4 people living there, it's not licensable. Well not manadatory licensable anyway. Best to check with your council but you'll probably be OK.

It is still an HMO though.

This basically means that you still have to comply with the means of escape from fire requirements, which are quite onerous for 3 storey houses. But you won't have to do all the separate toilets and wash hand basin kerfuffle.

clutton_2

each local authority is interpreting the new law in different ways. So with the greatest of respect - the only way to find out is to talk to the council. They will find you - even if you dont approach them - Housing computers systems now search Community Charge systems and multiple occupations are easy for council officials to spot.

TJ27

The law is actually very explicit regarding this and with four tenants it is absolutely not mandatory licensable. And without question the definition of HMO is now far clearer than it was previously, although there are still a few grey areas.

There may be non mandatory licensing in some areas but probably not very many (yet). There is some scope for interpretation but not all that much. Washing facilities for example are very well defined but councils can indeed apply some discretion regarding kitchen facilities.

If you want to learn HMO law https://www.opsi.gov.uk is a good place to start but it's fairly boring stuff!

I really wouldn't be too worried crazy088 but I agree that it's worth giving the council a bell. They may well want to come out and have a look but I think you'll find that their main concern will be fireproofing, alarms, etc.

jennifernil

In Scotland 3 sharing needs a licence.