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Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation.
This applies to all residential let property with 3 or more occupants from more than 2 families, i.e. unrelated individuals.
Your property must have a license to operate as an HMO and there are heavy fines imposed on Landlords who let without a license.
Crichton-Stuart Management offers a full HMO management service to deal with the application on your behalf and follow through any works required to your property to enable it to comply with the new technical and safety standards.
Applying for a license is not straight forward and includes applying to the Council for the licence, including supplying a floor plan and paying their fee. Putting up a site notice and sending letter to all properties with an adjoining wall to the property being applied for. Arranging to meet the Council representative from Property Management, at the property. The Council send a break down of what they require, this includes fire alarms, wired back to the mains, door closers, a fire blanket and an extinguisher. Depending on which floor the flat is situated and whether it has a sitting room or a sitting area of the requisite size i.e. 6 square metres depends on how many doors must be ½ hour fire resistant and fitted with intumescent strips.
We normally run the wiring up behind cornicing so as to make the smoke alarms as unobtrusive as possible.
After the works have been carried out, the property is inspected by the Council and if they are satisfied they grant the License. The Council re inspect each year and a renewal of License has to be applied for and paid for.
In some cases neighbours may object to the license being granted, and in these cases we attend a Council meeting to plead our client’s case.
All bedrooms must comply to a minimum size of 6.5 sq. metres for properties with a sitting room or sitting area and 10 sq. metres for ones without. All rooms must have a window and no rooms can be let which do not have access from the hall, access to rooms from the sitting room or another room is not acceptable.
If a room is too small we will advise our client and if it is feasible move a wall to make it comply. This, if sympathetically carried out, can increase the value of the property at the same time as providing a further room for rental. The License refers to how many people may occupy the property and if a room does not comply size wise the Council will not grant a license to include that room.
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