Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Basics

A property is an HMO if it is occupied by three or more people forming more than one household, and those people share at least one basic amenity such as a toilet, bathroom, or kitchen.

The definition covers many different types of shared accommodation, including:

• Student houses where unrelated students share a property
• Professional house shares where unrelated workers live together
• Properties converted into self-contained bedsits
• Some converted properties with shared facilities

A household means a single person or members of the same family living together. So a couple sharing with one unrelated person creates a two-household arrangement — the couple is one household and the single person is another. With a third unrelated person, you would typically have three households and the property would be an HMO.

Under the Housing Act 2004, there are three types of HMO licensing:

• Mandatory licensing: Required for HMOs with 5 or more people from 2 or more households living in a property of any size (following the 2018 regulations). Mandatory for England-wide.
• Additional licensing: Local councils can extend licensing to smaller HMOs in their area if they believe it is appropriate. This varies by council.
• Selective licensing: Councils can require all privately rented properties in a defined area to be licensed, regardless of the number of tenants. Typically used in areas with high concentrations of private renting and associated problems.

Licences are issued by the local council and typically last 5 years. A licensed HMO must meet certain standards including minimum room sizes, fire safety requirements, adequate facilities for the number of occupants, and regular safety inspections.

Licensed HMOs must meet the following minimum standards set out in the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 and the Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007:

• Room sizes: Sleeping rooms for one adult must be at least 6.51 square metres; for two adults, at least 10.22 square metres.
• Fire safety: Adequate escape routes, fire doors, fire detection, and firefighting equipment appropriate to the size and layout.
• Facilities: Adequate kitchen facilities, bathrooms, and toilets for the number of occupants.
• Waste disposal: Adequate facilities for storing and disposing of rubbish.
• Common areas: Kept in repair, clean, and properly lit.

If your HMO does not meet these standards, report it to the council's housing enforcement team. The council can serve improvement notices or prohibition orders on landlords who fail to comply.

If your landlord is operating an HMO without a required licence, you have a powerful remedy: a Rent Repayment Order (RRO). An RRO allows you (and local councils) to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to recover up to 12 months of rent paid to the landlord.

RROs can also be applied for in other situations, including where the landlord has been convicted of certain offences such as illegal eviction, failure to comply with an improvement notice, or using violence to secure entry.

The tribunal considers whether the landlord committed the relevant offence and how much rent should be repaid. Landlords cannot raise the defence that a tenant knew the property was unlicensed.

You can make an RRO application even after you have left the property, provided you are within the relevant time limit. Citizens Advice and Shelter can advise on making an application.