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HMO ACCREDITATION
The Housing Act 2004 introduced the compulsory requirement for larger
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) to be licensed from the 6 April 2006. All
properties comprising of three storeys or more, with five or more occupants, are
subject to these mandatory licensing requirements. The process is complicated
(and costly),
but to obtain the licence the property/landlord must conform to certain criteria
including:
- Fire precautions (eg fitting interlinked mains wired
battery back-up smoke detectors in all habitable rooms, all internal doors to
be self-closing fire doors)
- Standards for accommodation (eg kitchen space, bedroom
size, numbers of bathrooms/toilets)
- Security
- Property management (eg regular visits, maintenance
logs, PAT testing)
- Operated by a landlord who is deemed "fit and proper"
For more details on the licensing scheme, see the
Newcastle City Council website by
clicking
here.
64 Holly Avenue and 14 Tavistock Road fall into the
category of properties that require mandatory licensing. Both properties have
now been granted licences (two of the earliest granted by Newcastle City
Council) and both were physically inspected by the Council in September 2007.
At the end of the site visit we were told by the inspector
that the Council was considering an approved student housing list, where
standards would be above and beyond those laid down for the mandatory licensing
- and that our properties were already of a standard suitable. The council are
working on the scheme but it has yet to be launched.
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