RJL
29-03-2007, 13:48 PM
I am in the throws of setting up for Landlordzone an almost "Definitive Guide" to HMO.
There seems to be so many people who are still unclear on what is / what is not an HMO what needs a licence and what doe not
Section 254 of the 2004 Housing Act sets out the conditions of the building
Section 258 of the Housibg Act 2004 deals with "Household"
PERSON TO BE REGARDED AS NOT FORMING A SINGLE HOUSEHOLD UNLESS:-
THEY ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY
A member of the same family is defined as:
Those persons married to each other or live together as husband and wife (or in an equivilent relationship in the case of persons of the same sex):
One of them is a relative of the other, or
one of them is, or is a relative of, one member of a couple and the other is a relative of the other member of the couple
Relative means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, neice or cousin.
A relationship of half blood is treated as a relationship of the whole blood
A stepchild is treated as his child
Occupied mean lived in (Silbers v Southwark LBC 1977) There a vacant house cannot be an HMO untill it is occupied.
So a property that is occupied by 5 or more persons who do not form a single household would need a license.
The council CAN additional lisence premise that are let to 3 or more persons who do not form a single household
The 2004 Housing Act is clear on what you can and what you cannot do
THE ADVICE IS:
DO NOT TRY AN AVOID LICENSING - YOU MAY FACE £20,000 FINE
HAVE TO RETURN ALL THE RENT PAID BY TENANTS
yOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SERVE ANY LEGAL NOTICE ON THE TENANTS - ARREARS OF RENT, SECTION 21, SECTION 8 ETC
BE WARNED
There seems to be so many people who are still unclear on what is / what is not an HMO what needs a licence and what doe not
Section 254 of the 2004 Housing Act sets out the conditions of the building
Section 258 of the Housibg Act 2004 deals with "Household"
PERSON TO BE REGARDED AS NOT FORMING A SINGLE HOUSEHOLD UNLESS:-
THEY ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY
A member of the same family is defined as:
Those persons married to each other or live together as husband and wife (or in an equivilent relationship in the case of persons of the same sex):
One of them is a relative of the other, or
one of them is, or is a relative of, one member of a couple and the other is a relative of the other member of the couple
Relative means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, neice or cousin.
A relationship of half blood is treated as a relationship of the whole blood
A stepchild is treated as his child
Occupied mean lived in (Silbers v Southwark LBC 1977) There a vacant house cannot be an HMO untill it is occupied.
So a property that is occupied by 5 or more persons who do not form a single household would need a license.
The council CAN additional lisence premise that are let to 3 or more persons who do not form a single household
The 2004 Housing Act is clear on what you can and what you cannot do
THE ADVICE IS:
DO NOT TRY AN AVOID LICENSING - YOU MAY FACE £20,000 FINE
HAVE TO RETURN ALL THE RENT PAID BY TENANTS
yOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SERVE ANY LEGAL NOTICE ON THE TENANTS - ARREARS OF RENT, SECTION 21, SECTION 8 ETC
BE WARNED