Here at Arete Property, we love HMOs!

What is an HMO?

An HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) is a house shared by three or more people sharing the toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities who form two or more ‘households’.

A household is either a single person or members of the same family who live together. A family includes people who are:

• married or living together – including people in same-sex relationships
• relatives or half-relatives, for example, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings
• step-parents and step-children.

Why are HMOs different?

HMOs are different from standard single property lets for many reasons such as:

• Specific management regulations which apply to HMOs
• Local authority licensing, which can apply if the property has 5 or more unrelated tenants and is over 3 stories (this will be changing to any property with 5 or more unrelated tenants from October 2018)
• Planning Permission considerations
• Fire safety regulations and requirements
• Other health and safety requirements
• The human dynamics of a property where people, who often don’t know each other well, are living together sharing facilities
• The market for room lettings, which operates differently to single property lets, such as attracting tenants, rent levels and what is and isn’t included in the rent

How can we help you?

• Advice and consultation in setting up new HMOs, including finding suitable properties
• Removing the burden of compliance and regulation by providing our local expertise
• Fully serviced management of your HMO

We manage a select number of new or existing HMO/Multi Let properties for investors and landlords across different locations. When you rent out a property on a room by room basis there are many aspects that you need to consider:

• Fire/health and safety requirements
• Management of multiple tenants
• Registration of deposits
• Multiple collection of rents
• Provision of services at the property
• Choice of utility providers
• Regular maintenance inspections and improvements
• HMO Licensing requirements