May 27, 2014, by offcampus

HMO Sweet Home: Additional Licensing in Nottingham

If you live off campus in a shared house, chances are that you live in a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). In short, that’s a house with three or more people sharing where there are two or more family units (‘households’).

Since January 2014, Nottingham City Council have introduced Additional Licensing for HMOs in certain parts of the city, including all or part of Lenton, Dunkirk and Radford. HMOs which housed five or more people over three or more floors already needed a license, but now any HMO in these areas will need a license.

What’s the point of HMO licensing?

It’s all about setting and maintaining standards; keeping neighbourhoods clean and safe and supporting landlords in managing their properties effectively. Eligible landlords have a legal duty to hold a license, and could face prosecution if they don’t have a license for their HMO.

The introduction of additional licensing aims to:

• Ensure fundamental basic standards of accommodation are provided including safe gas and electrics, suitable provision of kitchens, bathrooms and room sizes for an appropriate number of occupants
• Ensure that HMOs are managed properly and to assist in identifying and dealing with rogue landlords
• Reduce complaints of noise, rubbish, housing disrepair and other anti-social behaviour
• Ensure that the licence holder and manager are suitable

So, when you’re looking for a house to rent, ask your landlord if it’s a licensed property. If you’re worried that your landlord might not have a license when they ought to, you can report them to the HMO Team in Community Protection on hmo@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or 0115 896 3400. If your landlord is convicted of an offence under Section 72 of the Housing Act 2004, you can apply to the Residential Property Tribunal to claim back any rent you may have paid to your landlord during the unlicensed period.

You can check if your property is in an area which means it needs a licence here, and you can find further information about the scheme here.

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