Specifics of the Act to Which Section 254 uses the Criteria to provide this definition
Theses are detailed Sections 255 – 259
By using the Definition of an HMO as under Section 254
There are a complex set of Tests to provide confirmation that a property fits into the Defined classification and that the other parts of the Housing Act apply
255 HMO declarations
(1) If a local housing authority are satisfied that subsection (2) applies to a building or part of a building in their area, they may serve a notice under this section (an “HMO declaration”) declaring the building or part to be a house in multiple occupation.
(2) This subsection applies to a building or part of a building if the building or part meets any of the following tests (as it applies without the sole use condition)—
(a) the standard test (see section 254(2)),
(b) the self-contained flat test (see section 254(3)), or
(c) the converted building test (see section 254(4)), and the occupation, by persons who do not form a single household, of the living accommodation or flat referred to in the test in question constitutes a significant use of that accommodation or flat.
(3) In subsection (2) “the sole use condition” means the condition contained in—
(a) section 254(2)(d) (as it applies for the purposes of the standard test or the self-contained flat test), or
(b) section 254(4)(e),
as the case may be.
(4) The notice must—
(a) state the date of the authority’s decision to serve the notice,
(b) be served on each relevant person within the period of seven days beginning with the date of that decision,
(c) state the day on which it will come into force if no appeal is made under subsection (9) against the authority’s decision, and
(d) set out the right to appeal against the decision under subsection (9) and the period within which an appeal may be made.
(5) The day stated in the notice under subsection (4)(c) must be not less than 28 days after the date of the authority’s decision to serve the notice.
(6) If no appeal is made under subsection (9) before the end of that period of 28 days, the notice comes into force on the day stated in the notice.
(7) If such an appeal is made before the end of that period of 28 days, the notice does not come into force unless and until a decision is given on the appeal which confirms the notice and either—
(a) the period within which an appeal to the Lands Tribunal may be brought expires without such an appeal having been brought, or
(b) if an appeal to the Lands Tribunal is brought, a decision is given on the appeal which confirms the notice.
(8) For the purposes of subsection (7), the withdrawal of an appeal has the same effect as a decision which confirms the notice appealed against.
(9) Any relevant person may appeal to a residential property tribunal against a decision of the local housing authority to serve an HMO declaration.
The appeal must be made within the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the authority’s decision.
(10) Such an appeal—
(a) is to be by way of a re-hearing, but
(b) may be determined having regard to matters of which the authority were unaware.
(11) The tribunal may—
(a) confirm or reverse the decision of the authority, and
(b) if it reverses the decision, revoke the HMO declaration.
(12) In this section and section 256 “relevant person”, in relation to an HMO declaration, means any person who, to the knowledge of the local housing authority, is—
(a) a person having an estate or interest in the building or part of the building concerned (but is not a tenant under a lease with an unexpired term of 3 years of less), or
(b) a person managing or having control of that building or part (and not falling within paragraph (a)).
256 Revocation of HMO declarations
(1) A local housing authority may revoke an HMO declaration served under section 255 at any time if they consider that subsection (2) of that section no longer applies to the building or part of the building in respect of which the declaration was served.
(2) The power to revoke an HMO declaration is exercisable by the authority either—
(a) on an application made by a relevant person, or
(b) on the authority’s own initiative.
(3) If, on an application by such a person, the authority decide not to revoke the HMO declaration, they must without delay serve on him a notice informing him of—
(a) the decision,
(b) the reasons for it and the date on which it was made,
(c) the right to appeal against it under subsection (4), and
(d) the period within which an appeal may be made under that subsection.
(4) A person who applies to a local housing authority for the revocation of an HMO declaration under subsection (1) may appeal to a residential property tribunal against a decision of the authority to refuse to revoke the notice.
The appeal must be made within the period of 28 days beginning with the date specified under subsection (3) as the date on which the decision was made.
(5) Such an appeal—
(a) is to be by way of a re-hearing, but
(b) may be determined having regard to matters of which the authority were unaware.
(6) The tribunal may—
(a) confirm or reverse the decision of the authority, and
(b) if it reverses the decision, revoke the HMO declaration.
So what is this all about:
Section 255 and 256 have the meaning that a Local Authority can revoke a classification of an HMO if it is satisfied that the property is no longer an HMO or if an appeal was lodged with the Residential Property Tribunal and that appeal was successful a property might not be then am HMO
Or an Appeal may confirm the local authority’s view point
Self Contained Flats and how this is determined
The Housing Act 2004 has made a provision via Section 257, which classifies the definition of a self contained flat by conversion
Section 257
(1) For the purpose of this section a “converted block of flats” means a building or part of a building which-
a has been converted into, and
b consists of,
self contained flats
(2) This section applies to a converted block of flats if-
a building work undertaken in connection with the conversation did not comply with the appropriate building standards and still does not comply with them; and
b less than two thirds of the self contained flats are owner-occupied.
(3) In subsection 2 “appropriate building standards” means-
a in the case of a converted block of flats – on which building work was competed before 1st June 1992 or which is dealt with by regulation 20 of the Building Regulation 1991 and which would not have been exempt under those Regulations
So this actually means that if the property consists of more than one self contained flat, which has been converted from what it was originally designed – and that conversion did not meet AND still does not meet the 1991 Building Regulations
If however, the property WAS converted to 1991 Building Regulation or since had works undertaken to meet those standards then the property would not be an HMO
Or if the property has been converted inline with current building Regulations then it would not be an HMO
Having said that, The Housing Health Safety Rating System would come into effect to ensure that the property is free from Category 1 or Category 2 Hazards
Section 258
HMOs: persons not forming a single household
(1) This section sets out when persons are to be regarded as not forming a single household for the purposes of section 254
(2) persons are to be regarded as not forming a single household unless-
a they are all members of the same family, or
b their circumstances are circumstances of a description specified for the purposes of this section in regulations made by the appropriate national authority.
(3) For the purpose of subsection 2(a) a person is a member of the same family as another person if-
a those persons are married to each other or live together a husband and wife (or an equivalent relationship in the case of persons of the same sex);
b one of them is a relative of the other, or
c 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
(4) For the purposes-
a a “couple” means two persons who are married to each other or otherwise fall within subsection (3) (a);
b “relative” means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or cousin;
c a relationship of a half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood; and
d the stepchild of a person shall be treated a his child
This Section defines what is meant by person not forming a single household and sould be easy to follow the above logic
259 HMOs: persons treated as occupying premises as only or main residence
(1) This section sets out when persons are to be treated for the purposes of section 254 as occupying a building or part of a building as their only or main residence.
(2) A person is to be treated as so occupying a building or part of a building if it is occupied by the person—
(a) as the person’s residence for the purpose of undertaking a full-time course of further or higher education;
(b) as a refuge, or
(c) in any other circumstances which are circumstances of a description specified for the purposes of this section in regulations made by the appropriate national authority.
(3) In subsection (2)(b) “refuge” means a building or part of a building managed by a voluntary organisation and used wholly or mainly for the temporary accommodation of persons who have left their homes as a result of—
(a) physical violence or mental abuse, or
(b) threats of such violence or abuse, from persons to whom they are or were married or with whom they are or were co-habiting.
Again logic should suffice here as to what is or does not meet the criteria
So: what does this actually mean?
For the purposes of residential letting – A Property which is Occupied by three or more persons, forming two or more households, and Share amenities , such as (bathroom ,kitchen or living room) with each other is a House in Multiple Occupation or HMO.
A property which is OCCUPIED (this does not mean just the official tenant) by three or more persons who are unrelated is an HMO as defined (see definition page).
The impact of this is now huge, as before it was really only larger numbers occupying a property that were caught by the previous legislation
Highlighted is the word OCCUPIED for good reason, as there are now many cases that have come to light by accident, now being caught by this definition.
For instance - Three unrelated persons sharing a house or flat – HMO
- A Couple (1 household) and a third person unrelated (second household) – HMO
- Owner Occupier and two unrelated persons sharing (three persons and unrelated) – HMO
Only Two persons sharing a property cannot be an HMO as it is outside the definition
A family (related persons) would be classed as 1 household)
Many people simple see HMOs as student accommodation and blank themselves off from the real legislation and the power behind it.
If the property is occupied by five of more persons, who are unrelated AND form two or more households AND share amenites (bathroom or kitchen or living room with each other AND this property is on three or more storeys, then this is an HMO and MUST be LICENSED. - MANDATORY LICENSING
If a property is an HMO within Castle and Uplands Wards of Swansea, then the landlord, would need to apply for an Additional Licence
Properties to which Section 257 of the Housing Act 2004 applies, are different in that, if the property has been converted into self contained flats, and that conversion did not comply (and still does not comply) with the 1991 Building Regulations – REGARDLESS of the number of occupiers – unless it falls into the Mandatory Licensing default, is also defined as an HMO.
Thereby this type of property will require a LICENCE under the ADDITIONAL LICENCING scheme if this property is within the Wards of Castle or Uplands.
Outside these wards, the landlord will be required to bring the property up to the required standard and MUST comply with the
HOUSING HEALTH SAFETY RATING SYSTEM or (HHSRS)
All Houses in Multiple Occupation or HMOs will be required to be upgraded to meet the local Amenity Standards and Means of Escape in case of fire as well as other Fire Precautions. Check our links page for more information on these. If you are not letting in Swansea check with your local authority for their Amenity Standards and Fire Precaution requirements.
Conditions will apply to the licensing such as
- Prescribed Amenity Standards – bathrooms, kitchen etc
- Conditions apply – Gas, Electric, Furniture, Tenancy agreements, Fire precautions
- Other conditions may apply – Antisocial behaviour, waste management, local manager, log book
You can find more information on HMOs by visiting Houses in multiple occupation or you can contact us direct on our blog
The Secretary of State (England) has intoduced new planning laws for HMO properties in England. Thisa means that from 6th April 2010 any new HMO or House in multiple Occupation as defined by the Housing Act 2004 will require planning permission under town and country planning act (Classes of use Act 2010 – this will require all landlords letting to three persons forming two or more households (Definition of an HMO) to apply for planning permission to enable the change of use from a Residential Dwelling (C3) to the new HMO class (C4) occupation
Case Law:
An HMO landlord in Sidcup who rented out a dangerous and sub-standard property as bedsits has been fined a six figure sum after a successful prosecution by the London Borough of Bexley.
The owner and manager of the three storey, eight bedroom property pleaded guilty to 22 offences and was fined a total of £99,000 plus costs of £5,835 at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 18 November 2008. The fine was reduced from £110 000 after the landlord entered a guilty plea.
Inspections by Environmental Health Officers in November 2007 revealed uncapped gas pipes in bedrooms, dangerous electrics, lack of adequate fire precautions, badly maintained and filthy bathrooms and kitchen along with a lack of hot water to kitchen and sinks. Some of the occupants included young children.
Environmental Health Officers said that they had made every effort to work with the landlord but that he had consistently failed to take their advice about works required to make the property safe for tenants.
The Council prosecuted him for failing to manage the property under the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2006.
Properties that are NOT HMO’s
Section 14 of the Housing Act 2004 lists properties that are NOT HMOs
These are Buildings:
Controlled or managed by public sector bodies (local authorities, housing associations, police, fire and health authorities. etc)
Occupied by students and let by the educational authority establishment where they are studying
Occupied by religious communities fo prayer, contemplation, education or the relief of suffering
Occupied by owners (An owner is someone with the freehold, or a leasehold for more than 21 years, or a member of their household
Occupied by two people (even of they form two households)
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Acknowledgement:
(Information obtained from LACORS) who considers that this case shows the seriousness of the offences, and the importance of councils taking appropriate action through the courts to protect potentially vulnerable tenants from unscrupulous landlords.
For paid private professional advice, contact us using the web contact details .
Free public advice is believed accurate, but we accept no legal responsibility except to clients.
