HMO Licence – self contained flats

HMO Licence – self contained flats

13:32 PM, 12th September 2018, About 6 years ago 15

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I own a shop with 8 COMPLETELY self contained flats above.

There is some confusion with Hackney council on the HMO issue.

For mortgage reasons and other, I DONT WANT THEM TO BE HMOS. Hackney said if they comply to 1991 Building Regs(or if not if they can be made to comply), they they don’t have to be classed as HMOs

I have rang over 20 surveyors and private Building reg companies to find someone who can survey the property to tell me if it complies or not, but not one has said they can help because they only work to current Building Regs. The Building Control dept at Hackney said they can’t help because the work to current Regs so I’m stuck in a big hole.

Please help!

Sharron


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Comments

Andrew

7:47 AM, 14th September 2018, About 6 years ago

And the councils fee per property as well. In Cornwall they’ve decided it will be £1150 for a five year licence 😳😳

reader

8:42 AM, 14th September 2018, About 6 years ago

Dear sjp,
What is an HMO and what is a licensable HMO are two different things, nationally separate tests apply and self contained 257 properties are not nationally licensable. However it may well be that Hackney have a local scheme of licensing such as Selective Licensing and such properties may become licensable in their locallity. (Councils love power!)
If they have a local scheme the test as to which properties are licensable will no doubt be defined by their scheme.
One must not forget however that ALL HMOs require compliance with the HMO Management Regs irrespective if they are licensable. Those regs will require periodic tests on the wiring etc. Also those HMOs will require compliance with Housing Health and Safety Rating System. So hey presto! There are always issues of complience with HMOs it just depends on what scheme applies.
If you dont want some building to be a HMO and it is an old pre 1991 conversion you could avoid the NATIONAL licensing by bringing them up to the lartest specification. However that may not avoid any local scheme nor the HMO Management Regs nor HHSRS.
Well that is my understanding. Please feel free to check out my thoughts.

Sjp

9:48 AM, 19th September 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by at 13/09/2018 - 15:05
Reader. Hackney do not have selective or additional licensing in my road but the licencible s157 is definitely in their HMO policy (see my previous copied excerpt) and this is also confirmed by their team leader. So where do I go from here? This is a stressful situation and potentially extremely costly full of confusion.

JoW

13:58 PM, 15th July 2019, About 5 years ago

Reply to the comment left by at 13/09/2018 - 07:53
Hi I also am having trouble finding a company that would issue a certificate to say whether our building meets the min standards of the 1991 building regs. So can you confirm the details of the company Celtec you mentioned as I could only find a building control company called Celtech. I did speak to a lady from Celtech, but she was was totally confused and had absolutely no knowledge of 257 HMO licensing at all as she only deals with new building control applications. Do you have a contact name of a person you spoke to at the company you recommended? Although it may be easier to get the license from the council than do this, it is a difficult situation because we are share of freehold and two of the freeholders are owner occupiers who quite rightly feel aggrieved that they are being threatened by our LA when they're not even landlords.

reader

11:16 AM, 16th July 2019, About 5 years ago

Dear JoW,

This is a difficult area to fully explain and would advise you join and seek advice from one of the national landlord bodies. But in essence I guess from your brief outline you are likely to be at least a S257 HMO requiring compliance with various bits of legislation. And a bit more difficult too if you some how share the freehold.

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