This is a guest post from Dwell, an estate and lettings agent in Leeds.
The last 10 years has seen a trend of landlords converting their buy-to-let properties into HMOs. With HMOs, a landlord rents out their property on a bedroom by bedroom basis to individuals, rather than as a whole to a “household”.
The surge in popularity in HMOs is due to their yielding greater rental margins for landlords, and helping meet the market’s need for affordable housing.
In order to convert their buy-to-let property into an HMO, a landlord needs to obtain an HMO licence for each relevant property.
Obtaining an HMO licence depends on your property meeting certain minimum requirements and regulations. These regulations pertain to:
What are the minimum bedroom sizes in an HMO?
In order to rent out a bedroom to a tenant in an HMO, the room in question needs to be of the following size (as a minimum):
Only floorspace with a floor-to-ceiling height of at least 1.5 metres is included in these measurements. This is what is regarded as “usable floor space”. Therefore, if any of your bedrooms have a sloped ceiling it may be worth double checking its dimensions.
What does a landlord need to provide in the communal living areas of an HMO?
To become licenced as an HMO, a property needs to have “adequate washing and cooking facilities.
This essentially means that the property must have a shower, basin and at least one toilet for every 3 tenants living there.
Kitchens must have a hob, oven and refrigeration.
Additionally, buildings need to have exterior waste disposal facilities that is collected regularly.
Your property may also be denied an HMO licence if the communal areas are “of poor condition”, this judgement is at the discretion of your local council.
What are the health and safety requirements of an HMO?
Due to the presumed additional risk of having people who are unrelated (and often unfamiliar) living together, HMOs need to have more stringent health and safety provisions than a buy-to-let. Such additional risk can also affect your property insurance.
Many of these provisions concern fire safety. The fire safety requirements of an HMO are:
Additional safety provisions for an HMO are:
What is a “fit and proper persons test” for an HMO landlord?
To attain an HMO licence, a landlord needs to pass a “fit and proper persons test”.
This is just a check of your criminal history. If you do not have a criminal record it is a formality.
Instances where a landlord does have a criminal record will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Your chances of failing a fit and proper persons test are increased if you have been found guilty of a financial crime or some form of human exploitation.
How do I apply for an HMO licence?
You can apply for an HMO licence through your local council.
Even if you already have an HMO licence, this needs to be renewed every 5 years. When being renewed there will be a full inspection of the property to make sure that it still meets regulations.
It is a landlord’s responsibility to make sure that their property’s HMO licence is renewed before the 5 year deadline.
If your property violates any regulations, the council will give you a set time to complete the required work to meet the regulations. Failure to do this, and still renting out the property as an HMO can see you lose your licence and face a fine of up to £20,000.