A HMO is a house in multiple occupation and from the government website, the definition is
Your home is a large HMO if both of the following apply:
A household is either a single person or members of the same family who live together. A family includes people who are:
From October 2018, the HMO licensing parameters were changed. Since the Housing Act 2004 was established it has been a requirement that large HMOs are licensed under mandatory licensing. A large HMO definition is:
But the law has been altered so that a HMO with 5 or more occupiers living in 2 or more households regardless of the number of storeys needs to be licensed (the storey requirement has been removed). So in October 2018 it is a legal requirement for properties that fit into the above definition to be licensed. The process and fee will differ between councils so please check with your local authority.
The licenses have been established to ensure the council are aware of all operating HMO’s and to eradicate unfit landlords who put tenants safety at risk. The main issue is the staffing levels at the council and would those rogue landlords admit to running a HMO as they know they would not be granted the license or do they operate undetected whilst responsible landlords pay the large fees?
The licence is valid for a maximum of 5 years and the license is held by the owner. Therefore if the property was sold and the new owner wanted to keep the property as a HMO they would have to reapply for the license. You will also need a separate licence for each HMO you run, so make sure you budget accordingly as the license fee where TMG operate is over £1000!
Such conditions that you must satisfy to get the license is:
You must also:
There are other avenues that tenants can use to secure a property and they do not have to be the usual government approved schemes. A caveat to this is to please check with your rent guarantee provider.
To start, a government approved scheme is referred to as a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme (TDP) and a landlord must place your rent into a TDP if you have an assured shorthold tenancy. A landlord must place the rent into a TDP 30 days after receiving it. If they do not the landlord can be prosecuted. The TDP is protected for both the landlord and tenant and if you do not damage the property and pay your rent on time and in full, you will get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy. The negative of this scheme is you need to pay 1 months rent to the landlord plus 4-5 weeks worth of rent to the deposit scheme, which can be tough especially if your previous deposit has yet to be released.
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection
A scheme I have had to use to claim against rent arrears and damage is Reposit. This is an insurance policy with the landlord being the beneficiary. This means the landlord can claim up to 8 week’s worth of rent and landlords get free independent arbiter. The tenant has to place into the policy only one weeks worth of rent so this can make your properties more attractive to tenants and help you stand out from the crowd. The tenant and landlord must still keep to the T&Cs of the AST so both parties remain protected.
The final option is Zero Deposit. This policy offers something very different from traditional deposits as again it only asks for one weeks deposit and is FCA regulated, plus accepted by 79% of estate agents. As with the above scheme you do not have to wait until you have the previous deposit released before you secure your next rented home. A huge benefit for landlords is claims are reviewed by TDS and receive fair payouts within two working days and you have up to 6 weeks rental protection. As with the above it makes your properties let faster and avoid void periods.
As I mentioned at the start please do check with your rent insurance provider and ensure you still comply with the T&C’s such as giving tenants a how to rent guide, valid EPC and valid gas certificate on the signing of an AST.
The most common form of agreement in the UK for a rented property is referred to as an AST and is abbreviated from ‘Assured Shorthold Tenancy’.
As stated on the Landlord Referencing website, an AST applies if
A tenancy can’t be an AST if:
If you have a property in an Article 4 area it means that you have to gain planning permission from the local council. You need to gain permission for small changes as well as major changes which can make some properties unattractive.
TMG operates within the Medway Council and they ask for an application for planning permission if changes include:
Building Control operate to ensure that construction is done in a safe manner. You must check with local building control to find out if your plans require consent. You can opt for a local private building control company and you can use this portal to find your local agent https://www.planningportal.co.uk/findyourlabc or you can contact your local council building control department. It is personal choice to which one you prefer to deal with.
Remember that building control look after the construction safety and the council planning department will be contacted if you need planning permission for the construction. You do not always need both as only building control involvement is needed if the construction is within permitted development. For more information on this please see https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200187/your_responsibilities/37/planning_permission/2
Some examples of work that may need building regulations approval is:
Send the team a message and we will endeavour to assist with any query
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