We have been looking after HMO properties for almost 10 years now. And even though HMO investments are very popular in London it is still a very legitimate question to ask – what is HMO property?
The most straightforward explanation is House of Multiple Occasion.
This means that the property is shared between 3 or more separate individuals.
Each tenant has their own individual room in the property. And all tenants together share the parts of the property as kitchen, living room or kitchen/dinner, bathroom, toilet, hallways or garden.
So in simple terms it’s a shared house.
The owner of the property rents each bedroom to an individual tenant also called an individual household.
In most cases each tenant has their own individual tenancy agreement.
The communal areas are looked after by all tenants by always cleaning after themselves when using the kitchen and bathroom. In most HMO properties the owner also provides a professional cleaner who cleans the communal areas.
All HMO properties are highly regulated in the UK and require special fire safety and very specific management requirements.
Most HMO properties in London also require an HMO license about which you can read in our past blog. Each council might have different licensing requirements as there are several property licence types. Such as Mandatory HMO license, Additional HMO license and selective property licence. So its best to always check with your local council or simply give us a call if you require help with HMO licensing.
There are many different reasons why landlords choose to rent their properties as shared properties rather than single family let’s.
Some of the most common reasons are:
Increasing rental income.
Providing more accommodation in London as London is struggling with providing enough good quality accommodation.
Being more in control of the investment. You can inspect and access shared properties more freely than single family homes.
Managing and reducing loss of rent during change of tenants.
Having an HMO property also means extra work for you as landlord as the industry is highly regulated and the council fines for non compliance are very generous. If you are concerned if your shared property is in line with all latest compliance regulations, feel free to contact us for advice.
