Standards In Houses In Multiple Occupation (HMO's)

There is a demand for flats and bedsits in Torbay. The Council protects the safety and health of occupiers in such properties by inspecting them and encouraging landlords and tenants to work together to maintain satisfactory standards. They must be suitable for people to live in and be kept in good condition.

When inspecting HMO's, officers pay attention to the following:-

Amenities & Room Sizes

Amenities are to be provided in rooms of adequate size and be readily accessible.  Shared washing facilities (bath or shower and hand rinse basins) and toilets are acceptable for each 5 persons.

If possible, each letting should have its own kitchen facilities. Where this is not possible some sharing is allowed providing it is kept clean and the sharing does not prevent its ready use by any occupant. The kitchen should contain a full sized cooker, refrigerator and food storage cupboards, hygienic working surfaces and a sink with drainer.

In a bed-sitting room , the occupier may have to live, sleep and prepare meals. To avoid overcrowding and reduce the risk of accidents the Council recommends the following minimum space standards:-

One person bedsit

• 13m² (140sq ft) usable floor space, or
• 10m² (110sq ft) with kitchen elsewhere

Two persons bedsit

• 15m² (160sq ft) useable floor space, or
• 12m² (130 sq. ft) with kitchen elsewhere

Hostels and Bed & Breakfast Hotels accommodating homeless persons that provide food should comply with food hygiene requirements, or provide a separate kitchen for the use of residents (unless all meals are provided).

Repair & Management

The house must be kept in reasonable repair and not adversely affect the health and safety of the occupiers.

Prudent landlords should have a maintenance programme which includes repairs, re-decoration and long term improvements. Repairs can be very expensive unless kept under control. Appropriate budgets should be established to finance both planned and responsive repairs.

The manager should ensure that the shared parts of the building are kept in clean condition, fair repair and with proper refuse storage facilities.

Occupiers also have responsibility not to damage the property and to co-operate with the manager in the proper running of the HMO.

Fire Safety

Owing to the high risk of fires at HMO's there are special rules to protect the safety of the occupiers.

It is necessary to prevent the spread of fire and smoke to other areas and into escape routes. This can be achieved by the installation of fire resistant walls and ceilings, and fire doors. Depending on the height of the building and complexity of the layout it may be necessary to install and maintain an automatic fire detection and alarm system. The aim of this protection is to give time for all the occupants to safely leave the premises.

In designing the conversion of a large building thought should be given to a safe means of escape in case of fire and avoiding inner room situations i.e. bedrooms exited though higher risk rooms such as kitchens and living rooms.

Related Documents

Policy for HMO Licensing and Regulation

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