Houses in Multiple Occupation Background Information

What is a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)?

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is any house or flat that is occupied by three or more people who form more than one household.

A household may be (i) a single person or (ii) several members of the same family, all related by blood or marriage. For example: a house occupied by a brother, sister and one other unrelated occupant would form two households; three unrelated persons would form three households.

The number of storeys in the house or its size is not relevant in Oxford where all HMOs are licensable.

The tenancy agreement is not relevant in determining if a house is an HMO.

Why are HMOs a problem in Oxford?

HMOs are a major concern in Oxford. According to government statistics Oxford has the 14th highest number of HMOs in England and Wales. Only the large metropolitan and unitary authorities and some London Boroughs contain more.

They form an unusually high percentage of houses in the city. An estimated 1 in 5 of the resident population live in an HMO. The House Condition Survey of 2005 reported that HMOs provided the poorest homes in the city and that 70% were unsafe. High demand for properties means that some landlords can offer these lower quality properties but still be confident of finding tenants.

HMOs are responsible for over 2000 service requests/complaints a year. The numbers of complaints have risen steadily over recent years and surveys indicate that many problems go unreported. HMOs are also associated with issues that affect the neighbourhood such as rubbish and anti-social behaviour. These problems can be aggravated by poor management of the property. HMOs can also change the nature of an area and result in reduced community cohesion.

What has been done to tackle the problem

We have used existing powers to their full extent and concluded that we needed to do more. In recent years we have taken more prosecutions against landlords than any other council in England and Wales. Only a handful of major cities such as Liverpool and Manchester have issued more legal notices to deal with HMOs. Despite this we still receive a higher volume of complaints than ever before.

New Powers

On 18 October 2010 the City Executive Board resolved to extend Licensing to every HMO in Oxford by introducing an Additional Licensing Scheme.

The first stage of the Scheme came into force on 24 January 2011. It required landlords of all three or more storey HMOs and all two storey HMOs occupied by five or more people to obtain a licence to operate the HMO.

The second stage comes into force on 30 January 2012. The landlords of all two storey or single storey houses or flats occupied by three or four people will be required to obtain a licence to operate the property as an HMO.

Public Notices

Public Notices giving effect to the scheme can be downloaded here:

 HMO Additional Licensing - Public Notice 1 (29kB PDF)
HMO Additional Licensing - Public Notice 2 (30kB PDF)

Why HMOs require a licence

Licensing is intended to ensure that:

• the landlord of an HMO is a fit and proper person (or employs a manager who is)
• each HMO is suitable for occupation by the number of people allowed under the licence (overcrowding is eliminated)
• the standard of management of the HMO is acceptable
• vulnerable tenants are protected
• high-risk HMOs can be identified and targeted for improvement

Licensing of HMOs aims to:

• protect the health, safety and welfare of all occupiers
• help integrate HMOs into neighbourhoods
• help in the reduction of anti-social behaviour
• promote environmental goals
• Improve the quality of the HMO housing rental stock

Page last reviewed 6 January 2012