UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, Sorry this is my first post and I'm relatively new at all of this, but any help is welcome and appreciated!

I have a 3 bed, 1 bath, 1 kitchen house across 2 stories, which I put up for let through an agent. Instead of a family, which I expected to find, they have found a group of people who are keen to move in fast, all with decent jobs, good rental history and willing to pay a good amount of rent! The only problem is that it is 2 single people, plus a couple. By law, I would understand this to be 4 'unrelated' people forming 4 'households', therefore an HMO. The Agent seems relatively unphased from this and says it isn't really a problem, but from what I understand, if this meets the definition, then its an HMO right?

I am pretty sure that my council doesn't enforce section4, so I don't think I need an HMO licence [though I plan on double checking this], but in the meantime, Can anyone confirm, is this the case, that I am renting out as an HMO, not a 'Single let'. The people all want to sign one AST rather than separate contracts, with all of their names listed as tenants, and nothing specific as to how much rent any one person is liable for, simple the one flat monthly amount required as rent.

Even if no licence is required, if this is classed as an HMO, does that mean legally I'm required to follow all the requirements of an HMO rather than the basic stuff for a single let? I'm finding it hard to work out what this all involves - I can't find a very good list anywhere, its all a bit wishy washy and mainly focussed on single lets. I know I need PAT testing yearly, electric checks every 5 years I think, and there's something about smoke alarms IN EVERY ROOM, plus fire extinguishers, and a fire safety report?? It all seems a lot more work and cost compared to a single let, and I don't want to do it unless I have to, but I also want to make sure I'm 100% legally covered and am fulfilling all my obligations and duties under the law.

Any help/advice would be appreciated, including info on SPECIFIC requirements for HMOs

Regards

If you were having rooms in the loft then yes.

https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/your-landlords-safety-responsibilities

You only need the fire alarms etc if a "large HMO" which this isn't.

This is fine.

Thank you so much for your reply.
I looked at the webpage, and from what I understand, I am  not a large HMO, therefore no addirional fire safety work is required. For electricals however, it is very vague, and only mentions that the electric system and appliances should be 'safe' without specifying anything specific eg PAT tests etc.

I'm still unclear, in my particular situation, of what my legal obligations are, besides registering the deposit in an approved scheme, and obtaining an EPC and gas safety certificate?

Any help would be much appreciated!

This is the .gov.uk URL I use to define HMO and Large HMO...

https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/houses-in-multiple-occupation

There is a section headed - "Standards, obligations and how to complain" and they refer to a Shelter URL for Large HMOs only.

Electrical responsibilities are vague, yes... for all properties. Everything seems to imply a HMO is just like a house if it's not a Large HMO, therefore nothing you would pay for is required / mandatory (Electrical Safety Certificate, PAT etc. etc.) but I guess every site out there would strongly advise them, right?

Thanks, both links were very helpful