What are HMO’s & HHSRS?
House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)
The Housing Act 2004 introduced obligations relating to Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) which became law in England on 6th April 2006 and Local Authorities started enforcement from 6th July 2006 (In Wales became law from 2nd July 2006 and was enforced from 1st January 2007). This introduced both the HMO Licensing and Management of HMO’s.
Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
The old ‘Fitness Standards for Human Habitation’ have been replaced by what is called the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) that, in simple terms, is a broad based risk assessment of “hazards to human health” (e.g. damp, dangerous stairs, poor electrics etc). On HMO Licensing, this breaks down in to the following types:
• Mandatory Licensing 5 or more people, forming 2 or more households, in a property of 3 or more stories.
• Transitional Licensing Existing HMO schemes transferring to the new regulations, criteria can vary dependant on Local Council.
• Additional Licensing Local Authority set HMO criteria and/or identify property in certain areas.
• Non – Licensable HMO’s - Any property let to 3 or more people, forming 2 or more households, which falls short of the Local Authorities Licensing criteria.