Do you have to have a living area in an HMO...

[GJMSurrey]

Hello,

Clearly a living room is a good idea in an HMO, and I have one and a large kitchen and 2 bathrooms in my existing 4 room HMO.

However, I am number crunching another opportunity in my area.

Is it (a) legally possible, and (b) reasonable to let a fairly spacious property as a 4 room HMO, if it only has 1 fairly spacious kitchen but no living room?

I think I read somewhere that it was allowed so long as the kitchen was of a certain size?

The property would be for professionals, local to shops and rail in to London, it would have good quality fixtures and fittings/Wifi etc, and the price would reflect the fact that there is no living room. The price would undercut the competition in the area, and I suspect it might appeal to those requiring a cheap room in the area but who do not really mind missing out on the social apects of an HMO - some like privacy! Rental by the room is fairly popular in the area.

Is this a bad or reasonable idea?


(No HMO licence required, although generic regulations will apply. Area popular for by the room letting. Local my myself and i will not use an agent - confident in finding tenants. Purchase value £175k, Income £1500/month (fully let), Running costs around £400/month, 15% down payment and mortage currently at 2.6% interest)

Thanks for any opinions

Regards

[mind the gap]

There's no law which says you must in principle have a living room in an HMO. As long as the bedrooms offer enough living space per person (you'd need to check with your council what the minimum is), you should be OK. If the tenants are all on individual ASTs, they are likely to be leading more independent existences than a groups of friends living as one household on a joint AST, so they may not even use a living room very much anyway. As long as the kitchen is a decent size so they can eat round a table, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Scrungy]

I have found that not only do you get a different kind of person when you have no lounge/social space, the absence of a common area creates a different relationship between the tenants.

But a sizable kitchen would probably provide that social element if there is enough space for a 4-6 person table to sit, eat, watch TV/DVDs, use laptops or sit on a small sofa.

In addition, it can be harder to get common aspects dealt with, such as cleaning, security and that people tend to behave almost as anonymous hotel guests rather than tenants sharing a house.

There is no requirement to provide a common use lounge but just beware of the effect of this and that in my experience, it is a minority of people who are happy with that setup.

Good luck to you and now is a perfect time to buy as many homes as lenders will lend you money on!

[GJMSurrey]

Great, thank you for these comments. Some good food for thought... I will have a good think on them.

[Snorkerz]

In addition, it can be harder to get common aspects dealt with, such as cleaning, security and that people tend to behave almost as anonymous hotel guests rather than tenants sharing a house.I'm not a HMO landlord ~ and therefore far from an expert, but isn't this the landlords responsibility? (Section 7 - The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006)

[Scrungy]

I'm not a HMO landlord ~ and therefore far from an expert, but isn't this the landlords responsibility? (Section 7 - The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006)

While this law says that the manager (usually the LL) must "ensure" that certain things are done, it does not determine who does the actual work or how the manager goes about this ensuring.

LLs have different arrangements to deal with this aspect.
I have found that when tenants don't do at least some of the cleaning work, they tend to not value their environment and this leads to tenants becoming complacent and more dirty/messy, because a cleaner comes round.

[mind the gap]

Hi,

If 3 or more unrelated people are living in a single dwelling then it's considered an HMO. It would be worth contacting your local council to see their views on it as it does vary council-to-council.

HTH.

Regards,

Adam

Yes, I think we'd established that already.

Please stop spamming.