What is a HMO?
A HMO means a House in Multiple Occupation as defined by the Housing Act 2004, and it applies to a wide range of housing types and includes:
- A building or a part of a building, which consists of one or more units of living accommodation
- Where two or more of the households who occupy the living accommodation, as their only or main residence, sharing one or more basic amenities (like a kitchen, toilet or bathroom)
or
- A converted building where more than one household lives and doesn’t entirely comprise self contained flats (whether or not there is also a sharing or lack of amenities)
or
- comprises entirely of converted self contained flats and the standard of conversion does not meet, at a minimum, that required by the 1991 Building Regulation and more than one third of the flats are occupied under short tenancies, (known as Section 257 HMOs)
A Household Comprises
- A couple (whether or not married, and including same sex couples)
- Persons related to one another as:
- a parent or grandparent
- a brother or sister
- a child, grand child or step child
- a cousin
- a niece or nephew
- an uncle or aunt
- Any other relationship that may be prescribed by regulations, such as domestic staff or fostering or carer arrangements.
