is there a hmo register

keyboard

hi all

If i rented a property out to some students, they would not have to pay council tax, however, would they or the address they rented be checked against some kind of HMO register to check they aren't telling fibs ?

thanks

TJ27

There is certainly a register for licensed HMOs because councils have to compile these by law. Not sure about unlicenced.

Not sure about the council tax issues either, so only a partially helpful answer I'm afraid.

dolce_vita

This sounds like the OP is trying to cut some corners.

Or maybe I'm just too cynical

clutton_2

council tax computers now talk to housing benefit computers which now talk to HMO computers - so just declare it, pay the license fee, pay the council tax, pay your income tax and get on with your life !!!

If you are running a HMO which is not licensed you risk a £20,000 fine - and yes, such fines have already been handed out - is it worth that risk to you ?

Pjcity

Right, let me put you straight....

Under the new Housing Act mandatory licencing affects HMO's over 3 storeys in height with 5 or more tenants... So if your HMO is smaller than this then you do not need to apply to the local council for a licence unless your authority has brought in additional HMO licensing.......

As for Clutton's scaremongering as far as I am aware there has not been anyone in the UK fined £20,000 for not getting a suitable HMO Licenced ....yet

Council tax is payable so it makes no difference who rents the property.....

One word of warning, you are totally responsible for the health and safety of your tenants and therefore make sure that the property has adequate fire precautions as required by the council otherwise if you dont and there is a fire and a death you might find yourself in a coroners court and prosecuted for manslaughter....

If you need any further advise on housing issues let me know and I will do my best to help you

clutton_2

a l'pool landlord was fined £20,000 last week. HMO licensing does not only apply to 3 storey 5 persons - several cities have applied for, and got, permission from ODPM to selectively and compulsorily license several districts of their city for ALL RENTED PROPERTY - Manchester is one of them, i think Hull is another. Landlords in Manchester are having to pay £395 per property to be accepted as "fit and proper" persons to own a rental property. George Orwell would be laughing in this grave ........

I manage properties all over the country and many different councils are interpreting the HMO regs in different ways - the only way to find out if you need to register with your local authority is to ask them. i agree that the original legislation 3-storey-5-tenants was very clear - but trust local government to muddy the waters.

TJ27

Pjcity wrote: »

Right, let me put you straight....

Under the new Housing Act mandatory licencing affects HMO's over 3 storeys in height with 5 or more tenants... So if your HMO is smaller than this then you do not need to apply to the local council for a licence unless your authority has brought in additional HMO licensing.......

As for Clutton's scaremongering as far as I am aware there has not been anyone in the UK fined £20,000 for not getting a suitable HMO Licenced ....yet

Council tax is payable so it makes no difference who rents the property.....

One word of warning, you are totally responsible for the health and safety of your tenants and therefore make sure that the property has adequate fire precautions as required by the council otherwise if you dont and there is a fire and a death you might find yourself in a coroners court and prosecuted for manslaughter....

If you need any further advise on housing issues let me know and I will do my best to help you

Well, that's almost straight but not quite. Mandatory licensing applies to properties of three or more storeys with five or more occupants.

I don't know of any big fines either. But I do know that we are currently quadrupling our supply of prosecution officers. I doubt that we'd be doing this unless we were expecting to be prosecuting lots of landlords in the near future.

I don't know anything about the tax side. But I do know that my department sometimes has trouble getting information out of other departments by any means, electonic or otherwise!

We have however refused licences on "fit and proper person" grounds on a few occasions. This was partly because landlords and/or agents have lied on their application forms. My advice would be to decare everything that you are asked to declare, because we do check.

clutton_2

TJ - does your council think that a landlord/managing agent has to live locally to be classified as a "fit and proper" person

TJ27

clutton wrote: »

TJ - does your council think that a landlord/managing agent has to live locally to be classified as a "fit and proper" person

No. We have a stack of landlords who live all over the world. We do prefer it if there is a local agent though.

It might be something which we would take into consideration amongst other things. But that alone would certainly not count against you.

We have discovered landlords with current convictions for fraud, indecent assault on minors, GBH, supply of drugs, etc. In many cases they haven't declared it on their applications and we have later checked up on them. So they're liars too. We're more concerned about that sort of thing really.

clutton_2

August 16, 2007 on 6:46 am | In News |
TO MILLIONS of fans, he is known as the pin-up star of Liverpool-based television hits Brookside and Hollyoaks.

But actor Philip Olivier is now the holder of a less prestigious title.

He has just become the first person in Liverpool to be prosecuted for breaking a strict new law aimed at raising standards in rented houses.

Olivier was fined £20,000 by magistrates for being the landlord of a multi-occupancy house – a property rented out to five or more people – without a licence

ouch !!!

i never "scaremonger" - i read up on everything to do with my business.

sooz

clutton wrote: »

a l'pool landlord was fined £20,000 last week. HMO licensing does not only apply to 3 storey 5 persons - several cities have applied for, and got, permission from ODPM to selectively and compulsorily license several districts of their city for ALL RENTED PROPERTY - Manchester is one of them, i think Hull is another. Landlords in Manchester are having to pay £395 per property to be accepted as "fit and proper" persons to own a rental property. George Orwell would be laughing in this grave ........

I manage properties all over the country and many different councils are interpreting the HMO regs in different ways - the only way to find out if you need to register with your local authority is to ask them. i agree that the original legislation 3-storey-5-tenants was very clear - but trust local government to muddy the waters.

except it's not the ODPM any more, since Prescott was caught with his pants down, it's now the Communities and Local Government, or any other name that tries to make you forget what he was up to