Confused by HMO law? Our new video course has everything you need

The law relating to houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) is fiendishly difficult. It is a heavily regulated area and the penalties for non-compliance are fierce.

However, it is increasingly popular with landlords who see it as a way of getting more return from their properties.  It is also popular with tenants as it is a lot cheaper than renting out a whole house or flat.  Often an HMO is all that a tenant can afford on the wages that they have.

So more and more landlords are looking to convert their properties to rent them as an HMO – but often in total ignorance of the law!

For example, did you know that:

• A property will be an HMO if it has three unrelated people living in it – even if they all sign the same tenancy agreement and eat all their meals together?
• A property can be an HMO (and subject to extra management regulations) even if it does not need an HMO license?
• There is a totally different definition of an HMO for Council Tax purposes, and that
• If a licensable HMO does not have a license you can be fined up to £30,000 by the Council AND your tenants can go to court and ask for a Rent Repayment Order?

Renting your property as an HMO can work well and be very lucrative but it is ESSENTIAL that you set it up properly and know what you are doing.

This is why we have launched our new HMO Video Course.

The Landlord Law HMO Video Course

One of the foremost experts in the country on HMO law is solicitor David Smith.  On 27 March he ran a workshop for us on HMO Law and Practice – which we filmed.

Our new online course is made up of clips from the video recordings of the workshop, along with explanatory text and links to further information.

What the course covers:

It really covers everything you need to know to set up and manage your HMO properties.  Including:

• The different types of HMO
• Households and storeys
• The different types of licencing (Mandatory, Additional and Selective)
• License applications and conditions
• Planning and HMO
• Council Tax and HMOs
• The management of HMOs, and
• Prosecutions

The course is available to our Business Level members only and can be found here.

See below an introductory clip from the first part of the course.