In this week’s article we will look into the aspect of number and people and households – why they matter, how it affects licensing and how to count them.
To make things easier, we have created a flowchart for Southwark’s property licensing. Try following the arrows to determine what type of license your rented property might have!
Nevertheless, to use the graph you will first need to understand the concept of households and how to count them.
A Short Recap
Remember, there are three types of property licenses in Southwark:
- Mandatory HMO license
- Additional HMO license
- Selective license
One of the main aspects that differentiates mandatory HMO from an additional HMO license, is the number of people and households living in one home. Counting households is easy as long as you know how people are related to each other.
The basics of households
The number of people and households in the property matters. This is because the number will dictate what type of property license landlords will need to purchase.
One household is made up of family members, a couple, two unrelated people sharing the same home or a single person.
Unrelated adults who are not a couple or part of a family are separate households.
Living with friends vs. living with strangers – does it matter?
No. This is because neither your friends nor strangers are related to you!
Mandatory HMO and additional HMO licensing are common in flat shares. A flat share is a property where tenants are co-residing with other people and sharing facilities such as kitchen and bathroom. While it is common for close friends to rent a property together, there are plenty of other circumstances where tenants who share a house might not know each other at all!
Regardless how well you know your co-tenants, they are not regarded as being related to you. In these circumstances, each unrelated person counts as a one separate household.
Mandatory or additional HMO?
For a mandatory HMO license, the minimum number of people living in one home must be at least 5, forming at least two households. This means that if you are living in a property with 4 people from 2 different households, the landlord will only need an additional property license, not a mandatory.
Examples
To make the concept of households even easier to understand, here are some examples of a shared accommodation where tenants are not related to each other:
- More than two students renting a house together
Example: Dave, Mary and Aisha are friends who study together. Because they are not related, they form three separate households
Dave = 1 household
Mary = 1 household
Aisha = 1 household
Total number of tenants: 3
Total number of households: 3
Type of license needed: additional HMO license
- A family and a friend renting together
Example: Tom and Sigrid are a couple and share a room in a two-bedroom flat. Their friend Mo lives in the other bedroom. Because Tom and Sigrid are together, they form one household. Mo forms his own household as a single, unrelated person.
Tom & Sigrid = couple = related = 1 household
Mo = not related to Tom & Sigrid = 1 household
Total number of tenants: 3
Total number of households: 2
Type of license needed: additional HMO license
- Multiple number of seasonal workers are each renting a separate room in a house, sharing amenities such as bathroom and kitchen
Example: In a five-bedroom house lives six people – Anja, Luke, Carlo, Frederic, Jiang and Katerina. All tenants share a kitchen and two bathrooms. Anja & Luke are a couple, and Carlo & Frederic are brothers but the other tenants are not related to each other. Because Anja & Luke are a couple, and Carlo & Frederic are siblings, each pairing forms a household. Every other unrelated tenant in the property counted as an additional household.
Anja & Luke = couple = related = 1 household
Carlo & Frederic = siblings = related = 1 household
Jiang = 1 household
Katerina = 1 household
Total number of tenants: 6
Total number of households: 4
Type of license needed: mandatory HMO license
Some exceptions to keep in mind
Keep in mind that:
- There are further requirements to some types licenses. For example:
- Sizes of rooms and ceiling heights;
- the number of kitchen and bathroom facilities and the number of sinks, baths etc.;
- age and gender of children in HMOs.
These factors might impact how many people can reside in one shared property.
2. Some houses converted into flats before 1991 can also be classed as “HMOs” and will need a license if there are 3 or more flats occupied by different households, and all of the flats are owned and rented out by the same landlord
3. Previously, homes which were occupied by a single person, one couple or one family would not need a license at all. However Southwark has recently brought in a Selective Licensing scheme, meaning these properties now require a license (excluding properties in Borough and Bankside, St George’s, North Bermondsey, and Dulwich Village).
4. Foster children are considered as part of the family even though they are biologically unrelated to the foster parents.
5. Whilst tenants might be required to let their landlord know that they might have a guest staying at a property for a short period of time, a guest living at the property for a few weeks and using facilities will not be counted as a tenant. As their stay at a property is temporary and for a relatively short amount of time, this will not affect the licensing. The licensing scheme only applies to tenancies where the tenants use the property as their main place of residence.
We will discuss other details and exemptions in our upcoming articles
What’s next?
Follow the arrows on the flowchart and determine what license your property requires.
We will continue to provide further info in our upcoming articles.
Do you have a question or a suggestion, perhaps more than one? We would love to hear from you! Drop us a line here
