no one seems to know if my property is a HMO!!!!!!!!

pcwilkins

roses wrote: »

These HMO rulese are ridiculous. Who wants to convert a family home into a "bedsit" by putting washbasins and firedoors in every room when it is 1 group of friends & 1 tenancy agreement & the owner may want to move back in at some point? There are many people that let out their own house because they have changed jobs & had to move away or they decided to leave the country for a bit to live the dream abroad for awhile!

It's quite simple. If you don't like the law then don't rent out a HMO. It's entirely your decision.

Peter

clutton_2

fire doors save lives - why is every getting so steamed up about it. its the law - as Peter says - if you dont like it - dont do it.

Many councils also think the washbasins in every room is ridiculous and some are giving landlords 5 years to comply in the hope that the government can be made to see sense on this and that they wont have to enforce it.

red40

clutton wrote: »

Many councils also think the washbasins in every room is ridiculous and some are giving landlords 5 years to comply in the hope that the government can be made to see sense on this and that they wont have to enforce it.

Clutton read the link below

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=506147

clutton_2

thanks REd - Common sense has prevailed at last !!!!!!!!!!!

UK007BullDog

Just rent it out to a "real" family. Then no hassles and you can find a mortgage. But I guess you get more rent as an HMO.

seven-day-weekend

I was told by the Council that my house in the UK is oficially a HMO (three storey and three unrelated people (no couples), one of whom is my son. He shares with two friends.

However, I was also told (very carefully) that they would not bother to enforce the regulations in my case as it was not people like me they were 'after', but households where there were 8-10 unrelated people, none of whom knew each other, living in substandard conditions, and who did not do things like share bills/shopping/housework etc.

So the rules appear to be flexible, or at least whether or not to enforce the regulations is discretionary.

sooz

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TJ27

Some of the rules are flexible and some aren't. In certain circumstances the council HAVE to take enforcement action and in others they don't.

To tell you they're not too concerned is fine, as long as you don't have any incidents. Personally, if it was me dealing with your house SDW, I'd like to have a good look at it before being satisfied that nothing had to be done. I'd certainly be insisting on certain fire protection and alarms, if not already fitted, for example. (I'd probably lose my job if I didn't and there was a serious fire.)

If they've had a look at it and told you it's already up to standard though, that's great.

seven-day-weekend

TJ, my house has a gas safety certificate, two CO detectors, smoke detectors/alarms with ten-year batteries on every floor including the cellar and a fire blanket and extinguisher in the kitchen.

The windows in each of the lodgers' rooms open wide, one of them onto a flat roof and the other one wide enough to throw out a mattress. My son's room at the top of the house has two velux windows, one of which is a fire escape and has a proper fire escape rope ladder which reaches almost to the ground outside.

There are no cooking or gas facilities anywhere other than in the kitchen.

I feel I have taken adequate precautions as much as I am able. The Council haven't looked at it, but I have told them all this on the phone.

TJ27

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

TJ, my house has a gas safety certificate, two CO detectors, smoke detectors/alarms with ten-year batteries on every floor including the cellar and a fire blanket and extinguisher in the kitchen.

The windows in each of the lodgers' rooms open wide, one of them onto a flat roof and the other one wide enough to throw out a mattress. My son's room at the top of the house has two velux windows, one of which is a fire escape and has a proper fire escape rope ladder which reaches almost to the ground outside.

There are no cooking or gas facilities anywhere other than in the kitchen.

I feel I have taken adequate precautions as much as I am able. The Council haven't looked at it, but I have told them all this on the phone.

Oh there's FAR more to it than that and actually some of those things you've mentioned do fall below the usual requirements for 3 storeys. As long as you're happy with it though, especially as your son is living there. Bear in mind that the huge majority of people who are killed or injured by fire in HMOs live on the top floor. (Although thankfully these accidents are pretty rare.)

I'm looking at it more from the council's point of view though. Say there was a fire there and the council were asked at the enquiry, "What did you do to ensure the house was safe." The answer would be, "We talked to the landlady on the phone who told us she thought it was OK." I'm amazed that they don't want to at least have a quick look at it.