HMO is short for House in Multiple Occupation.  But what is this?

There is a lot of confusion about the definition, particularly as there are several different kinds of HMOs which all have different rules.  However, in a landlord and tenant context, ‘HMO’ normally means the type of HMO which is subject to licensing and which is defined by s254 of the Housing Act 2004.

This type of HMO will normally arise when there are three or more residents who form two or more ‘households’.

They are subject to various regulations, in particular:

• The management regulations – which are essentially health and safety based, and
• The licensing regulations – which require many (but not all) HMO managers to obtain a license from the local council.

Landlord Law has a huge amount of information about HMOs which can be divided into:

• Free information
• Information which is part of Landlord Law membership and
• Paid training and courses

See below for details: