HMO Bathroom Provision for 7 people

The standards I am aware of say that

1-4 people need a standard bathroom
5 people need the toilet to be separate from the standard bathroom
6-10 people need two bathrooms but one toilet must be separate from a bathroom

A toilet must be no more than one floor up or down from a bedroom

I am sorry but I have been unable to find a National Document for all this

Follow me on Twitter@landlordtweets

I am in Swansea and I have been told that the amenity standards are national and are decided upon by LACORS …. http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/static.aspx?N=0&Ne=0+2000+3000+4000+5000+6000+7000+8000+9000+10000+11000&groupid=1

Thats the thing …. the logic behind this statement

“6-10 people need two bathrooms but one toilet must be separate from a bathroom”

belies the ‘one bathroom can serve 4 people’ principle for 6,7 & 8 tenants

Thank you to Angela O’Connor for finding the answer ….

“…(b)where there are five or more occupiers sharing those facilities there must be —
(i)one separate toilet with wash hand basin with appropriate splash back for every five sharing occupiers; and
(ii)at least one bathroom (which may contain a toilet) with a fixed bath or shower for every five sharing occupiers;…”

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/373/schedule/3/made

Angela made the above post on the HMO Facebook Group – see >>> http://www.facebook.com/groups/housesofmultipleoccupancy/584530921566396/?comment_id=584618858224269&notif_t=group_comment

cardiff operate a policy where 6 tenants have to have 2 bathrooms, ie shower room plus separate bathroom with toilet in each. At one time it was deemed for another toilet to be completely separet but this has since changed so therfore for 6 its 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets.
Obvoiously it may vary from council to council. as some 6 share have to have 2 sinks or 1 sink best to contact the council who run the licencing for hmo for clarification

The legislation to which you refer is “The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation” 2006 and it states :–
2 (b)where there are five or more occupiers sharing those facilities there must be —
(i)one separate toilet with wash hand basin with appropriate splash back for every five sharing occupiers; and
(ii)at least one bathroom (which may contain a toilet) with a fixed bath or shower for every five sharing occupiers

My Council tell me that two bathrooms each with a toilet is insufficient for a house licenced for 8 people. Seems daft to me. Does anyone know of a suitable answer to the Council?

They are only guidelines, I can’t see the Council getting very far if you were to appeal this decision, logic is not on their side, try talking to them about it, but if necessary dig your heals in, they will probably not force the issue if you put up a good argument.

The scedule was published to provide clarity in relation to the Housing act and standards in HMOs. I had correspondence with DCLG shortly after publication….. If you remember that summer was a particularly dry one, and in Oxford we calculated that the requirement for sinks in bedrooms of five or more occupiers in an HMO would mean an additional 4000 or 4500 extra sinks. This was against a background of Thames water hose-pipe ban and a concerted drive to reduce water usage in the domestic context. They contacted Oxford City Council and told them to ignore the directive…….. presumably if one part of the schedule can be ignored (during licensing) it is undermined?

Well in your situation the solution would be to split one of the bathrooms, changing a bath to a shower as less space providing two doors.

Simple solution and it works in the space normally

You must be psychic Gavin because that is what has been suggested. Yes it is apparently acceptable to the Council but it is a lot of work involving moving a central heating radiator, wiring for electric to two separate rooms, providing for natural light to what will become a windowless shower room and fitting an extractor fan as well as the obvious building work. What a lot of unnecessary work, expenditure and inconvenience to achieve what? Regulations gone mad as interpreted by jobsworth cretins.