My area doesn't need a HMO licence for 4 bed property. The license is only reqd for a 5 bed and more.
I have a 4 bed property which I rent out to students as a 3 bedroom house. The 4th bedroom size is bit less than 6.51 sq meters reqd for a HMO license and as a result I have never allowed 4 students in the property so far knowing this. When I look at rightmove , I can see many agents advertising 4 bed property with bedroom size less that 6.51 sq meters and meant for 4 students and they are without HMO license. (mind you a license is not reqd for a 4 bed in the locality) . I can see the floor plan advertised and therefore I know about the size of the bedrooms from there.
I got in touch with one of the agent to query how they manage to do this, and their answer is the room size only matters if the HMO needs a license. From what I know this cannot be true as a small HMO also needs to be complying to the same regulations and a licensed one. The agents in question are well known large agents and been operating in the student let market for a long time so I expect them to know the rules better then me. Now I could be wrong but just wanted to check the view of the senior people regarding this.
If the agents are doing the correct thing, I can also get 4 students in the property and get bit more income.
What is your view please ?
I have a 4 bed property which I rent out to students as a 3 bedroom house. The 4th bedroom size is bit less than 6.51 sq meters reqd for a HMO license and as a result I have never allowed 4 students in the property so far knowing this. When I look at rightmove , I can see many agents advertising 4 bed property with bedroom size less that 6.51 sq meters and meant for 4 students and they are without HMO license. (mind you a license is not reqd for a 4 bed in the locality) . I can see the floor plan advertised and therefore I know about the size of the bedrooms from there.
I got in touch with one of the agent to query how they manage to do this, and their answer is the room size only matters if the HMO needs a license. From what I know this cannot be true as a small HMO also needs to be complying to the same regulations and a licensed one. The agents in question are well known large agents and been operating in the student let market for a long time so I expect them to know the rules better then me. Now I could be wrong but just wanted to check the view of the senior people regarding this.
If the agents are doing the correct thing, I can also get 4 students in the property and get bit more income.
What is your view please ?
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