HMO standards and regulations

There are regulations, fire safety, amenity and energy standards that owners of HMOs must comply with.

• Regulations
• Amenity standards
• Fire safety
• Domestic Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations

Regulations

All managers and owners of HMOs are bound by The Management of House in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No. 372).

The regulations impose duties on a person managing a HMO in respect of:

• Providing information to occupiers
• Taking safety measures, including fire safety measures
• Maintaining the water supply and drainage
• Supplying and maintaining gas and electricity, including having it regularly inspected
• Maintaining common parts (defined in regulation 7(6)), fixtures, fittings and appliances
• Maintaining living accommodation
• Providing waste disposal facilities

The regulations also impose duties on occupiers of a HMO for the purpose of ensuring that the person managing it can effectively carry out the duties imposed on them by these regulations.

Amenity standards

HMO landlords must comply with Minimum Amenity Standards.

Fire safety 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places duties on the person having control of a HMO to have fire precautions in place, to make sure the property is safe and to carry out fire risk assessments.

Landlords should make sure there are appropriate means of escape and fire detection systems according to the type of property and the way it is used. For example, a house containing individual bedsits each with cooking facilities will require a much higher level of protection than a shared house with a single kitchen.

All HMOs are required to meet minimum fire safety standards (LACORS), and the amenity standards outlined in the previous section. These standards are higher than for a home occupied by a single family. This is because the risk of fire and the amenities required increase when a home is occupied by a number of sharers who are not living as one family. All private rented properties must be provided with a smoke alarm on each floor to detect a fire - more information is available in the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations.

Landlords must also:

• Make sure the house is suitable for the number of occupants in terms of size and facilities
• Ensure the manager of the house is considered to be a ‘fit and proper’, for example has no criminal record, has not breached housing laws or codes of practice
• Arrange an Annual Gas Safety check by a Gas Safe Registered engineer and obtain an updated gas safety certificate every year.
• Arrange an electrical safety check by a qualified electrician at least every five years and obtain an updated Periodic Electrical Installation Condition Report - you can read more about electrical safety standards in the private rented sector
• Install and maintain smoke alarms on each floor and if necessary in each room (a heat detector in a kitchen)
• Obtain safety certificates for all portable electrical appliances 
• Provide sufficient refuse bins accessible to tenants, and written information to all tenants about the proper storage of household waste and recycling material and collection arrangements

Furniture

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989, 1993 and 2010) set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture, furnishings and other products containing upholstery. 

If you supply furniture or furnishings with the let, you should ensure that they meet the fire resistance requirements – sometimes known as the ‘match test’ – in the regulations.

The regulations apply if it is considered that the landlord is acting in the course of a business in letting the property. The regulations set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture such as sofas and mattresses.

All new and second-hand furniture provided in accommodation under a new let, or replacement furniture in existing let accommodation, must meet the fire resistance requirements unless it was made before 1950.

Most furniture will have a manufacturer’s label on it saying that it meets the requirements.

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations

The MEES Regulations set a minimum energy efficiency level for domestic private rented properties. If you own and rent out a domestic property, it must have an energy performance certificate (EPC) with a rating of E or above, unless it is exempted.

It is illegal to rent out a domestic property with an EPC rating of F or G, unless a valid exemption is in place.

The MEES regulations are designed to:

• Make privately rented properties more energy efficient
• Improve the wellbeing and health of tenants
• Reduce carbon emissions
• Reduce bills and fuel poverty

If your property's EPC rating is F or G

If you are planning to let out a property or are currently letting a property with an EPC rating of F or G, you need to improve the property's rating to an E immediately or register an exemption.

Failure to make the property compliant or register an exemption can result in a financial penalty of up to £5,000 per property being imposed.

Register an exemption

The following exemptions are available:

• High cost exemption
• All improvements made exemption
• Wall insulated exemption
• Consent exemption
• Devaluation exemption
• New landlord exemption

Exemptions are all valid for five years, apart from the new landlord exemption which is valid for six months from the date of becoming a landlord.

On GOV.UK you can:

• Register for an exemption
• Read guidance about complying with MEES

Find an EPC

EPCs are currently only valid for 10 years. Find an energy certificate for a property (GOV.UK).

Support and advice

• Find ways to save energy in your home (GOV.UK)
• Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant (GOV.UK)
• Apply for the Great British Insulation Scheme (GOV.UK)
• Apply for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (GOV.UK)
• Help from your energy supplier: the Energy Company Obligation (GOV.UK)

Further information

The GOV.UK website provides advice for HMO landlords.