Do you live with more than one person who isn’t a member of your family? Maybe you’re a student sharing a house with others. Or perhaps you rent a flat with some friends. Whatever the case, it’s important that you know about the potential legal implications and responsibilities of sharing a house. Sharing a house can be fun and cost effective, but you should make sure that you’re properly informed about the safety regulations and legal requirements so that sharing a house doesn’t unnecessarily become a headache. Here are the facts you need to know about living in an HMO.
What is a House in Multiple Occupation?
A house in multiple occupation, or HMO, is a home where at least three tenants live, sharing more than one household, sharing a bathroom, toilet or kitchen facility. This means that in an HMO you live with at least two other people, who you aren’t related to, sharing the regular household facilities and in this way living together. Additionally, if the house is at least 3 stories high, at least 5 tenants who aren’t one household live there and they share living facilities it is classed as a large HMO. It can be a single large house with multiple bedrooms, or it can be divided up into separate self-contained flats or bedsits with common areas for the bathrooms or kitchen.
The definition of ‘household’, of which there must be more than one to constitute a HMO, is either a single person or living together as a couple or a family who are married, relatives or half relatives such as aunts or uncles, cousins, siblings or grandparents, or step-parents and step-children. Same sex couples are included in the legal definition of a household.
Staying in a HMO tends to be cheaper than living in a one bedroom flat for tenants. The average saving for a tenant living in an HMO rather than a single flat has been estimated at £1600 per year. This is due to the fact that HMO agreements include utility bills in the rent, as it can be hard for landlords to distribute costs for utilities fairly amongst multiple tenants. The cost may further be reduced through the sharing of food through communal meals, meaning that tenants can take advantage of economies of scale.
Licensing
A large HMO or a HMO being rented out by a landlord requires an HMO license. The HMO license was first introduced in Scotland in 2000, but is now granted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Thanks to the HMO licensing scheme, a HMO can be granted a license under certain conditions. The conditions to be met include the installation and maintenance of smoke detectors and fire doors. You must also ensure that the size and facilities of the house are suitable for the number of occupants, and that the manager of the house, you, are ‘fit and proper’, without a criminal record and not in breach of landlord laws or code of practice. You must send the council an updated gas safety certificate as well as provide safety certificates for all electrical appliances if requested.
The licensing of HMO’s is undertaken by local authorities. Authorities have the powers to vary the minimum size of the property to be licensed, the license fee and the conditions of the license. This means that, if you are considering obtaining a HMO license, you will need to find out what the criteria are in your local area. It’s your responsibility to know what requirements need to be met. You should also know that renting out an unlicensed HMO could result in a fine of up to £20,000. A HMO license is valid for 5 years, after which point it will need to be renewed before the property can be rented again. If you own multiple HMO’s, you need a separate license for each property.
Is a HMO Right For Me?
As has been said, HMO’s can be cost effective for people who would otherwise be living alone. It is a popular choice for groups of people, such as students, who are planning on living together. Young people who are finding it difficult to get on the first rung of the property ladder are likely to take advantage of the reduced costs that HMO’s can bring. But those who are elderly are also more commonly living in HMO’s nowadays in order to benefit from the security and sense of community that it can bring. Elderly people tend to be more socially cut off from friends and family, so HMO’s can help to give them greater freedom and autonomy, as it can allow them to share costs as well as household chores. Other groups of people that could benefit from HMO’s include groups of single parents, small religious orders or business partners.
When viewing properties that are HMO’s, you and the people you intend to be living with should know what to ask your landlord and what to consider. It is prudent to find out if the HMO has a license, as well as when the license needs to be renewed. You as a tenant should know what standards apply locally to HMO’s and what forms of maintenance and repair your landlord is obliged to undertake. If you wish to make a complaint about the quality or living standards of a HMO, then you should contact your local council. Councils are responsible for enforcing the standards of the license and can require landlords to make the repairs necessary to maintain these standards.