The year wouldn't be complete without a bit more government interference in the private rental sector. Standard form is to increase levels of red tape for Landlords that increase cost, often with an obscure caveat, such as the requirement for carbon monoxide alarms in properties that have open fires but not those that have gas boilers.
This year is no exception and it's all about houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018 says thatFrom 01 October 2018 all rental properties will need a HMO license when they are occupied by 5 or more adults, unless all occupiers are related or unless the property is a purpose built apartment in a block of 3 or more.
The full legislation is here.
At present licenses cost £735 from Northampton Borough Council and may also involve physical modifications to the property such as fire doors with automatic closers, interlinked smoke alarms, emergency lighting etc - a lot (too much) is left to the discretion of the housing officer that actually processes the application.
To make matters worse, this new rule applies to properties that are already tenanted on 01 October 2018, not just tenancies that are agreed after that date. So some landlords may be in a tenancy agreement already that they are unable to get out of, and will require license to remain compliant.
What's the solution?
Not quite sure to be honest! I'm assuming that landlords won't want to get their places licensed (I certainly wouldn't myself) due firstly to cost and secondly to the fact that it will mean well presented homes get butchered to look like boarding houses. The simplest solution would seem to be to avoid situations where 5 or more adults are sharing - but that isn't always easy particularly with larger properties. Irrespective, that's the route we'll be going down to start off.
Who will suffer?
There's been mandatory licensing on properties with 3 or more habitable floors for a while so this new rule is nothing new for anyone who owns one of those. Landlords who might come unstuck are those with larger properties but set over 2 floors - so big modern boxes on suburban estates or larger period property in town centre areas. The latter in particular have a habit of ending with lots of people in - the simple size of the property means they can easily accommodate larger groups and I suspect these are the first properties the authorities will look to clamp down on as higher levels of occupancy create problems in terms of parking, refuse, etc. If we're managing one of these we'll keep our eye out for you, but landlords should note that even if their property ends up with too many people through no fault of their own (ie. you've let to 3 but 2 more have moved in without your knowledge) you'll get no sympathy from the Council - it's your house and you should know who's living there is the line they take - and fine you accordingly.
