Government has said for some time now that they will change the rules on HMO's and now it appears to have done so.

HMO's until now were defined as properties of three storeys or more with five or more people making up two or more separate households residing within them. These properties are often used by those on low incomes including students, migrants and young professionals, and as a result they are easier to take advantage of, with Landlords often renting unsuitable accommodation to them.

Landlord's have tried to avoid the HMO legislation by renting out properties to multiple people but making sure these properties were under 3 storeys. Terraced houses with 2 storeys but 5 rooms turned into studio flats wouldn't have fallen foul of the rules.

HMO's are however notoriously dangerous and have increased fire risk, problems with rats/mice and rubbish and other similar issues where multiple people share the same space.

In April this year new legislation was introduced to combat the current workaround for Landlords.

New Legislation

The definition of HMO has now been changed to "a building will be  a HMO albeit less than three storeys high if it has two households which share a basic amenity, or the living accommodation is lacking in basic amenities.   A basic amenity can be a toilet, personal washing facilities or cooking facilities."   

So properties that were once not classed as an HMO could now be. Landlords need to check very carefully as to whether their existing tenancies could be classed as HMO's and make sure new ones are reviewed too. Fines of £30,000 could be imposed on Landlords by the Local Authority if an error is made.

National Minimum Sleeping Room Size

There is also a new mandatory national minimum sleeping room size and mandatory waste disposal requirements.

Guidance provided by the Government was set out in a list in June 2018 - 

minimum sleeping room size for one child under the age of 10 years 4.64 sq. m

minimum sleeping room size for a person over ten years of age is 6.51 sq. m 

minimum sleeping room size for for two persons over 10 years of age 10.22 sq. m 

Breach of these requirements may result in prosecution.

Waste Disposal

Licences issued to Landlords after1st October 2018 will require compliance with Council storage and waste disposal schemes.   A breach of the Licence is to be regarded as a criminal offence.  

Landlords should seek advice on guidance on staying compliant with the new HMO rules.