Renting a room in our house out for the first time

Badger_Lady

Curious_Moose wrote: »

Would 3 tenants qualify as a "house in multiple occupation". You might need to be a bit more careful about your obligations if it does.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/rentingandletting/privaterenting/housesmultiple/whatis/

As far as I can tell, no, because there are only 4 people living here (and I'm one of them):
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/wales/wsi2006/20061712e.htm

red40

Ah right a common mistake Badger_Lady, the link you posted was to do with mandatory HMO licensing, which you are right requires 5 persons, 3 storeys in 2 households.

What you have is a HMO that doesn't require a mandatory licence because you only have 4 persons, what you should be looking at is schedule 14(7) of the Housing Act 2004 ("the Act"), which says any building which is occupied only by two persons who form two households is not a HMO. Whereas yours is occupied by 4 persosn in 4 households and they share at least one amenitiyit comes under the HMO definition given by in section 254 of the above act, and therefore is a HMO.

A resident landlord you would be allowed 2 lodgers to avoid being a HMO per se (excluding Part 1 of the Act), however the enforcing authority (council) could if they so wish approach you under Part 1, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and class the building a HMO.

It would still be a HMO under Part 1 as it is occupied by at least two households, crazy bit of legislation I know but we didn't write this stuff.

Hope that clears it up.

Badger_Lady

So what do I have to do??? Seems clear as mud!

tomatopuree

Badger_Lady wrote: »

So what do I have to do??? Seems clear as mud!

It appears you may have to apply to your local council for a license.

I have no experience of this but a quick google of 'national HMO standards housing act 2004' seems to indicate that the national standards are implemented by the local councils. Therefore I'd recommend doing a google search on the name of your local council and then 'HMO guidelines 2004'. Hopefully there will be a link to the relevant part of your local council's website with a clear statement of what you have to do.

*EDIT* you could try this website (it is not working for me for some reason as it may require Internet Explorer) http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/housing_act/yourproperty.shtml

red40

tomatopuree wrote: »

It appears you'd have to apply to your local council for a license.

Unless Badger_lady's council are operating additional or selective licensing, she will not require a mandatory HMO licence because all the criteria in the regulations she posted have been met, i.e the property is only going to be occupied by 4 persons and not the statutory requirement of 5.

To be perfectly honest I would speak to the council for guidance, you are certainly going to have some sort of interlinked smoke detection system installed and other fire precautions, which can be costly for a start.

Basically the house would need a full inspection pursuant to Part 1,the Housing Health and Safety Rating system. This basically identifies hazards within and around the property, notice can be issued to get works done, if necesary.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 may also apply, whereas you should do a risk assessment of the property, this doesn't need to be written down because there are only 4 persons present, but it is wise to do so. The below link provides you with the details and there is also a basic template for what you should be doing

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/fire/firesafetyrisk4

The below regulations apply to you as a section 254 HMO also, nothing really new in these regs from the old ones, apart from it is now mandatory to have the fixed electrical installation checked by a suitably qualified person at intervals not exceeding 5 years :-

The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006

Depending on where you are in the country, you may find that the council are concentrating on licensable HMO's, both mandatory and if applicable additional. Thats a point you should check that the council haven't introduced additional HMO licensing. Additional licensing means the council can vary the size and occupation of the property, i.e it may not have to be occupied by 5 persons, that could have changed to 3 persons.

That should keep you going until lunch time!

I find if you work with a council they are usually very helpful, informative and will assist you in setting up a HMO correctly.

Badger_Lady

Hmm... a lot to try and figure out! Most of my friends live in similar situations to mine and we've never come across this... regardless...

I think I'm complying with the majority of this anyway - I had the property checked out by the fire brigade who also installed smoke alarms on every floor (which I check regularly), and I have audible CO alarms as well... I do maintain the property well, and the gas, electric and central heating were all checked last April. The only thing I seem to be missing is certification.

What do you think is the minimum I need to sort out here? It's all very well saying "the local council is helpful", but they can't even take card payments or set up Direct Debits for council tax / refuse collection etc so to say they're behind the times is an understatement. The only way I've found to deal with them is to visit their office Mon-Fri 9-5 (i.e. when I'm at work :rolleyes:)!