HMO additional Licence has been introduced – What is everyone else doing?

HMO additional Licence has been introduced – What is everyone else doing?

11:38 AM, 16th May 2017, About 7 years ago 3

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My local borough have introduced additional HMO licensing which covers small HMOs. I am going to complete a HMO licence application and send it to the council so I remain compliant and my house is licensed, however my concerns are as follows:

– Does HMO licensing speak to planning? If I go through the cost of licensing the house and potentially changing lender to one which permits licensing, can planning still reject me?

– From looking at the council website it seems as though they are granting licenses easy as so many have been issued, but hardly any have of the addresses are recorded to have sent in planning applications at the same time. Are people just not applying for planning hoping that planners will not find out or what?

– I just would not want to go through the cost of doing the work, sending the application and potentially changing mortgage lenders also, only to be then refused by planning due to not being granted change of use from single dwelling to HMO. Please note: PD is not permitted from C3 to C4 so every HMO needs to have planning.

Has anyone licensed an unlicensed HMO in an area where additional licensing has come into force and what are the common pitfalls or issues I should be aware of in terms of the the HMO application, planning, lending during the process / changing mortgages and as there are no guarantees, which order of events should one proceed with first?

I have read articles of people applying for licenses to ensure there are no issues with the council and then not getting planning only to be stuck, or even then breaching the lenders terms.

HMOs would have had to have been unlicensed at one point so how do people do this now?

Is there any real life examples of people who have experienced dealing with the above and what was the outcome or your experiences?

Additional HMO licensing surely is effecting millions of people who let properties to 3 or more friends even on one AST so what is everyone doing??

Any help would be great.

Thanks

Peter


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Comments

paul robinson

12:35 PM, 16th May 2017, About 7 years ago

Hi Peter,

Regarding planning applications for HMO’s I was under the understanding that that its not retrospective and so if your rental was rented as a HMO before the date when the requirement came in there is no requirement to apply for planning approval.

I believe planning approval could be required if for a defined period you rented to a family and then after re-rented to 3 non-related/family members, so breaking the continuous use as a HMO.

Again, I’m no expert on the matter, but I don’t think planning approval recognises a difference between HMO’s and licensable HMO’s so the fact the council are bring in additional licencing shouldn’t really trigger the need to apply.

Yvonne Francis

13:11 PM, 16th May 2017, About 7 years ago

Hi Peter
Just to confirm Paul's post, planning is automatically granted to existing HMO's up to 6 tenants. We had no problems when a few years ago a house for three we owned had to have a license. It's always best to check with your Council if you have any concerns.

Mandy Thomson

5:29 AM, 17th May 2017, About 7 years ago

For a NEW small HMO, planning permission is only needed if the area is subject to Article 4 Direction. Planning permission is not required if the property changes back into single household occupation.

Planning permission and landlord licensing (both selective and HMO) are completely separate matters.

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