All HMOs in a city must adhere to the city council’s HMO standards. These standards will cover things like minimum room sizes, amenity standards and fire safety requirements. If you are considering HMO property investments then you must comply with these regulations.

Salford HMO Properties

For Salford HMO properties currently not all locations require a license. The definition of those that do and don’t is clearly outlined on the Salford City Council website. Here is a link to the application page where the HMO requirements are further explained.

Minimum Room Sizes

The minimum room size required depends on the facilities available and the number of people sharing. So for example a bedroom just for 1 person starts at defined minimum size and a kitchen for 6 to 10 people should be at least a defined number of m2 and so on.

If there is no communal space then the individual bedrooms must be larger.

How the room is measured is also defined so that spaces that are physically there but impossible to use such as those located under a sloping roof are correctly accounted for.

Amenity Standards

These rules cover important aspects such as washing and toilet facilities. Where these are for 4 or less people there must be at least one bathroom with toilet and fixed shower or bath.

5 occupiers is the number used to calculate when more are required so if you have 5 or more occupiers there should be another toilet available and then the number of full bathrooms increase for 6 or more people.

All facilities for hygiene should be located within proper rooms or compartments. External water closets are not acceptable in regards to the amenity ratio requirements.

Kitchen appliances are also important elements for HMOs and as well as having the correct size and type of cooker, fridge, freezer and so on, these must of course be in safe and working order.

You must also provide adequate facilities for storage and disposal of refuse and outline your tenant’s responsibilities with respects to proper management of their waste and collection days for the bins.

All kitchens must have adequate ventilation and artificial lighting.

Heating and Hot Water

The house must have a properly installed and maintained heating system and this would generally also control the hot water supply for washing and laundry use.

The fuel type is not specified so can be gas, oil or electrically heated and can either be a centrally controlled system or use individual elements such as electric space heaters.

Safety

As you can imagine safety is another key area so gas safety and fire safety must be carefully thought through and properly managed.

These subjects are covered by national safety requirements and you should employ suitable certified contractors to help you with these areas as you have a legal requirement to do so.

In Conclusion

This outline gives you a brief overview of the many important factors you must manage if you are an HMO landlord.

Mistoria Group are experts in the field of HMO property investments and would be more than happy to assist you with either a part or all of your property and planning needs.