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Christmas opening times

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO's)

In this section

  1. What is a HMO?
  2. HMO Enforcement
  3. Mandatory Licensing
  4. HMO Standards
  5. Non Licensed HMO's
  6. Applying for a HMO Licence
  7. Report an Unlicensed HMO
  8. Planning Rules for HMO's
  9. Fees and charges
  10. FAQ's - houses in multiple occupation
  11. Fire Safety for HMO's

What is a HMO?

A HMO (Housing in Multiple Occupation) is when you have a minimum of three people in two separate households living together who are sharing amenities. Normally this will be a shared bathing or kitchen facilities. More information can be found here.

To be classed as a HMO, a building or part of, must fall into one of these categories:

  • A building or flat in which more than one household shares a basic amenity such as a bathroom, toilet or cooking facilities. This is known as the 'standard test' or the 'self-contained flat test'. 
  • A building that has been converted and does not entirely comprise of self-contained flats. This is known as the 'converted building test'.
  • A building that is declared a HMO by the local authority. HMO Declaration
  • A converted block of flats where the standard of the conversion does not meet the relevant building standards and fewer than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied

There are three main types of HMOs: 

  1. Shared Housing - Such as a group of friends or students move into a property. They have their own bedrooms, but they will share any kitchens and/or bathrooms. They will sometimes be on the same tenancy agreement which means that they will move in and out of the property at the same time. The most typical type of accommodation will often we referred to as student HMO’s
  2. Bedsit Accommodation - This is where rooms are let to tenants individually, and don't know each other. The tenants have their own tenancy agreements which means that they will move in and out of the property at different times. Even though some won't be sharing, there may be some element of sharing either kitchens or bathrooms or both. This will type of setup will normally be referred to as non-student or professional HMO’s
  3. Studio Accommodation - This is where the room a tenant occupies has all the amenities they need behind their own front door, although it may be in a block of flats, converted house or building. These properties must meet the minimum sizes in order to be classed as self-contained by planning

Click here to complete our online form for advice about a house in multiple occupation.