Tenant has stopped paying rent and refuses to leave?

Presume as you say each tenant has a AST to their room. And a licence for the communal parts noted in their tenancy agreements?

And you have a licensed HMO?

When the “lead” tenant moved out and informed the utility companies whose name(s) did she give for taking over the supply?

As landlord you are usually responsible for the Council Tax in an HMO when the property is rented out to tenants on individual agreements and tenants who do not form a single household.

Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. These Regulations specify classes of dwellings for which the person liable for the Council Tax is the owner rather than the occupier ie houses in multiple occupation (Class C) but you could have disaggregation.

However, the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings and Liability for Owners) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 from 1 December 2023 an HMO would be treated as a single property for Council Tax purposes and it is now the landlord, not the tenants, who is responsible for paying the Council Tax on the property.

Licensed HMOs should have already been contacted by the VOA at the beginning of 2024 with regards to their new Council Tax banding. However, for unlicensed HMOs (e.g. those that don’t require a licence), the onus is on the landlord to contact the VOA to challenge the current banding if your HMO is still disaggregated.

The changes do not apply retroactively so that any Council Tax bills that were issued for individual units in an HMO before December 2023 still have to be paid.

More detail in https://hmodesigners.co.uk/who-pays-council-tax-in-an-hmo/

Dear God, sell asap and get out the game. There has been unlimited publicity and news about the challenges of being a landlord in the PRS. Sorry to be blunt but what on earth possessed you to do this? Your nativity and innocence shines through. Stick around and it will utterly destroy you. Sell now and hand your cash to a decent IFA.

I’m assuming that your agent is let only, in which case, check that you can serve a valid s21 notice here: https://nearlylegal.co.uk/section-21-flowchart/

This is an HMO and if its licensable and you don’t have one, you will not be able to use s21 and will have to evict using s8.

If you don’t know what any of this means, use a specialist eviction company.

You are running a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), so it is YOU that is responsible for paying the Council Tax, and you that is responsible for paying the utility bills (gas, electricity, water, broadband, etc). You are also the person responsible for insuring the house as a HMO, and ensuring you have permission from your mortgage lender to let the house as a HMO.

You are also responsible for maintaining the property, and this includes not just repairs and property maintenance, but also ensuring the cleanliness of the communal areas.

You also need to look at your responsibilities not just as a landlord, but as a HMO manager (the HMO regulations), as well as HHSRS and other regulations.

Hopefully you have got the mains interlinked fire alarm system and compliant fire doors throughout, and have a Fire Risk Assessment for the property.

You should also check whether the property is in an Article 4 area, or selective licencing area, and understand the implications accordingly.

I would suggest that you seek professional help from an eviction specialist that understands the HMO regulations and is able to assist you with the evictions. Then, if you still wish to be a landlord, stick to whole house (single tenancy) lets to a single household, (or a lease to a housing association or charity).

When you say ‘in my house’ do you mean that you live there too?

Reply to the comment left by Robert M at 28/10/2024 – 12:16
After horrendous experience with a London Housing Association for 2 properties I’d never go down that route again.

Is there a minimum age for living in the HMO? I didn’t know you could have a toddler in a house with others. Is the toddler classed as a tenant too? I’m just thinking of the issue of overcrowding? How can two tenants refuse to pay bills? Sounds like you need to boot them all out and start again. I think this sort of thing will be increasingly common because a room in a house is just about all that is affordable. (And thats with no bills!)