Government Plans to Extend HMO Licensing & Limit Small Rooms

The government is running a new consultation to get feedback on its proposal to extend mandatory licensing to all properties with 5 or more tenants (today a property needs to be spread across 3 or more floors to need a mandatory licence) and also, to impose minimum room sizes on tenanted accommodation. The consultation runs until 13th December and you can make your views known here.

There was an earlier consultation last year focussed on small rooms and our analysis, based on input from our members, was that if implemented, it could make 130 rooms which are currently let in the city 'too small" and thus illegal as bedrooms - potentially making 130 people homeless. You can see our response to last year"s consultation here.

Our view on the applicability of this legislation, which we will be feeding back is that:

- Mandatory licensing today is very focussed on 'fire risk", it was obviously brought in to reduce the incidence of fire and the damage it causes in 3 storey and greater HMO"s

- We can assume it has been largely successful as we do not hear of problems of this nature anymore

- The current proposals aim to repurpose this legislation to address a different problem, such as that experienced in Newham, where properties are often grossly overcrowded and sheds and garages are used as living accommodation

- We have seen evidence of overcrowding in the city albeit limited and currently effectively policed using Additional Licensing regulations

- Whether the new 'mandatory" proposals give PCC any powers over what they have already given themselves with Additional Licensing (AL) is debateable, but it would for example, pull in houses full of bed sharing taxi drivers in the north of the city who are outside the AL area today.

- So really, the only change is the room size. It is good that it proposes to include private student halls but the exclusions will still leave some halls accommodation outside of the legislation

- Whether it should apply in smaller properties and how the act will be worded is the main point. The consultation can be read as imposing minimum room sizes only on mandatory HMO"s, which makes sense - if you are trying to stop overcrowding, you say no more than 4 in a house unless you have a licence and to get a licence you need to abide by certain space regulations

- However, to say 3 people in a small house with lounge and kitchen diner should not be allowed because the small bedroom is 6.25m protects no one and if Tony"s evidence is still accurate, risks reducing the number of PRS beds by 130 in the city plus the pressure on increasing rents etc. to get a viable return from the same properties.

- Portsmouth has more small rooms than most places. Unfortunately, 50% of landlords who responded to last consultation thought 6.5 sq. m was right: presumably because they have bigger rooms in less densely populated cities or do not realise how perfectly adequate a 6.5 sq. m room can be if sensibly arranged.

- However, we need more evidence to show it fixes a real problem

- Small Local Authorities like Havant and Gosport will probably struggle to resource a broader licensing regime

- We are told by some that possibly 20% of HMO's in Southsea are still unlicensed 3 years after introducing Additional Licensing and this appears to be were the worst problems are, so if the current scheme is not catching them, what is the likely benefit of the proposed one?

- We will also argue that there is a need to concentrate on Housing Benefit properines as that is where the vulnerable are being housed and most often taken advantage of

One potential outcome of this legislation is that if all properties with 5 or more unrelated inhabitants need a licence, then there is probably limited justification for Additional Licensing (as the Planning HMO rules will limit the spread of smaller HMO's to 10% or less density in any area). That is an interpretation we will definitely encourage - although it will also mean that some 5 bed HMO's will downsize to 4 beds which will imply an increase in rents and fewer rooms available.

Final point on small rooms: We need examples of nice rooms under 6.5 sq m to photograph and positive statements from their tenants to confirm that rooms of thissize can be quite comfortable. Names can be redacted