HMO, Safety & Compliance

If you want to let your property to more than two unconnected people you will require an HMO (‘House in Multiple Occupancy’) licence which is granted by the local council.  The purpose of the licence is to ensure your property is safe for tenants and each council has its own regulations which must be adhered to.  The advantage of the HMO licence is that it allows you to increase the number of tenants in your property which can significantly increase the rents you can achieve from your property.

At Grant Property we manage hundreds of HMO properties for our landlords and we have a dedicated HMO team to ensure each property is fully compliant with all the regulations. The volume of work required for obtaining, managing and renewing HMO licenses often surprises many of our clients.  The list of duties includes but is not restricted to;

• Assessing whether your property is suitable for HMO
• Recommending and carrying out necessary works on your property to be compliant with HMO regulations
• Preparation and submission of the application or renewal forms
• Preparing the safety check documentation packs to provide to the council inspectors
• Displaying the site notice outside the property
• Removal of site notice after the obligatory 21 day period
• Issuing the certificate of compliance to the Council confirming display of site notice after 21 day period
• Arranging and attending joint inspections with the council and the required liaison with tenants
• Arranging works requested by the Council from the inspection, obtaining quotes if required
• Arranging and attending re-inspections if required so that the Council can inspect the work
• Issuing neighbour notifications to all relevant parties once licence has been granted
• Handling any neighbour complaints and meeting neighbours at their property
• Liaising with the Council’s out of hours night team for neighbour noise complaints
• Attendance on your behalf at any Council Committee meetings if required

Our HMO team has built up a reputation with councils across the UK for attention to detail and market leading processes for tenant management which have become industry standard. This has resulted in Grant Property becoming one of the largest managers of HMO properties in the country.

Safety legislation requirements in the property industry are regularly reviewed and upgraded, so it is crucial that the landlord or agent is aware of their obligations and that they are adhering to current standards at all times.

Current safety regulations applicable to all properties:

• Gas Safety Certificate– Annual test on all gas appliances in a property including gas boiler, gas hob and gas heaters. This is a legal requirement in all properties which have gas appliances.
• Portable Appliance Test (PAT) – Annual test to ensure electrical appliances such as items such as  kettles and toasters provided by the landlord are safe for tenants to use.
• Fire Appliances Certificate – Annual inspection of all interlinked mains wired smoke alarms, heat detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, fire blankets and extinguishers in accordance to size and layout of property and checking the expiry dates.
• Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) – Test on the condition of the electrical installations, fixtures and fittings carried out every 5 years.
• Legionella  – Test to assess the risk of exposure to Legionella Bacteria in the water systems. The bacteria can be found in hot and cold water systems, storage tanks, pipe work, taps and showers.
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) – Legal requirement for all properties carried out every 10 years or after major changes to the property and provides an energy efficiency rating of the property.

Additional HMO regulations:

• Emergency Lighting Certificate – Annual test on the units provided in properties which do not hold sufficient light in the hallway in the event of an escape.
• Sprinkler System Inspection Certificate – Annual certification of the sprinkler systems required in properties situated above the second floor.
• Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) – Annual assessment to establish both the risk of fire occurring and the risk to people in the event of a fire. This would apply to everyone who may be in the HMO (residents, visitors, etc) and should take adequate account of any people with special needs. The risk assessment will show whether the existing fire precautions are adequate, and what changes need to be made if not.