Resident landlord in HMO to pay the bills

Which authority are you in? It would appear from your post that they have an article 4 directive which is the bit from C3 to C4…… this should not be an issue if you had established use before the expiry of the notice period.
As far as the definition of an HMO is concerned, this is clear within the 2004 housing act. Three or more occupants comprising two or more households would be an HMO. your family would count as one household. Unless the authority has introduced additional licensing, you would only require a license if there were 5 or more occupants (2 or more households) over three floors.
There are exceptions……… (wrinkles) as in any legislation. For example staff do not count! so if your occupants were staff they would not constitute a different household; equally if you were an educational establishment you would be exempted from licensing.
Hope this helps….. if you need further info call me (number available on our website)

Hi Richard,

I hope this gets sorted out for you soon. You are correct insofar as your family (you, your wife and son) should only count as one household and therefore one occupier – “A household is either a single person or members of the same family who live together.” source – Government Leaflet 8 on Private Renting – Houses in Multiple Occupation https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/houses-in-multiple-occupation

As Mark Crampton Smith asks, it might be helpful if you can tell us which borough you live in, as rules about what constitutes an HMO vary between authorities, but what constitutes a household should not. It would also be helpful if you could tell us how large the house is and whether it’s more than 2 storeys, or if the lodgers have separate entrances or have their own cooking and bathroom facilities.

Is there away to spit it into two separate flats.