FINDING AND FUNDING AN HMO
There are 178 pieces of legislation linked to being a Landlord and HMOs are compliance heavy beasts, before you decide to invest in them, do your research well, educate yourself and understand your obligations. Let’s have a look at some of these pieces of legislation, as they relate to HMOs, now: HMO Compliance can be broken down into 3 main areas:
Investor/Landlord Compliance – Being a compliant investor Property Compliance – Having a compliant property Tenant Compliance – Creating & Maintaining compliant tenancies
Insurance & Safety:
Naturally, you will need to have your property insured, each property is going to be different, each area is going to be different and the best thing to do is work with a broker who you know and trust and be very open and honest about what you are looking to achieve (if you don’t know one, we know a great one!) The next thing to be aware of is HHSRS. HHSRS stands for Housing Health & Safety Rating System and it’s the way houses are assessed for being fit for human habitation (or not). The whole document is 72 pages long and while you don’t need to read it all, you do need to know the basics.
Let’s assume you are a compliant investor/ landlord: that you have ICO registration; that any company you are using as your The list of what could be a hazard stretches investment vehicle is correctly insured etc. etc. from loose floorboards to asbestos, but the and concentrate on the property itself: key thing is compounding the risks/hazards. For example, cupboards in hallways, junk Property Compliance can be broken down into mail and loose carpet on stairs on their own a few areas too, some are HMO specific and are small risks, but combined are a large some are not: risk! Insurance & Safety – HHSRS & being correctly insured for an HMO Licensing – Mandatory & Additional Licenses Planning – Article 4 & Sui Generis LACORS – Fire Safety 22
Our advice is to imagine you are walking around the house after a few too many or if you were a toddler (can be the same for some!) how can you hurt yourself? What items when paired together pose a greater risk and how can you mitigate that?
