| FACT
FILE - The Housing Act 2004 - UK
The
Housing Act 2004 received the Royal Assent
on the 18th November 2004. Listed below is a summary of Contents of the Act.
-
The
Housing Health and Safety Rating System -
HMOs
** - licensing scope and schemes -
HMOs
** -
licensing requirements -
Selective
licensing of other residential accommodation. -
Interim
and final management orders. -
Home
Information Packs -
The
Right to buy -
Park
Homes -
Increasing
effectiveness of powers to regulate Registered Social Landlords -
Payment
of grants to bodies other than Registered Social Landlords. -
Anti-social
behaviour in social housing. -
Empty
Dwelling Management Orders. -
Tenancy
Deposit Schemes. -
Rent
Repayment orders. -
Gypsies
and Travellers. Definition
of HMO** SEE
HMO's Houses in multiple occupation House
in Multiple Occupation means a building, or part of a building (e.g. a flat):
- Where
more than two unrelated tenants share rented property. For big shared houses -
defined as those with three or more storeys and five or more occupants - a licence
will always be required. Similar rental properties could be affected to as councils
will be able to extend
licensing to include other types of HMOs
or even insistthat all private landlords are licenced.see
below
- That
is occupied by more than one household and in which more than one household shares
an amenity (or the building lacks an amenity such as a bathroom, toilet
or cooking facilities);or,
- That
is occupied by more than one household and which is a converted building that
does not entirely comprise self contained flats (whether or not there is also
a sharing or lack of amenities); or
- That
comprises entirely of converted self contained flats and the standard of conversion
does not meet a minimum, that required by the 1991 Building Regulation and at
least one third of the flats are occupied under short tenancies.
And
is"Occupied" by more than one household :
And
the households comprise:
- Families
(including single persons and co-habiting couples (whether or not of the opposite
sex, or,
- Any
other relationship that may be prescribed by regulations, such as domestic staff
or fostering or carer arrangements.
Mandatory
HMO licensing will be resticted to certain categories
of "high risk" HMOs. The Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) envisages that this will include those
HMOs (as defined by the Act) that comprise of
three storeys or more and are occupied by five or more persons, who compromise
two or more households and consist, in part or entirely of non-self contained
units of accommodation (i.e. with an element of shared facilities). Converted
blocks of flats (i.e.all self contained units with no sharing of facilities) that
fall within the definition of an HMO will not be subject to compulsory licensing,
but can be licenced under "additional licensing" if they are problematic. The
detailed implementation of HMO licensing regulations will be contained within
secondary legislation which is still at consulation stage. To
get get a licence, landlords will need to
show an annual gas safety certificate, working smoke alarms, safe electrical appliances
and furnishings. They will also have to state the property is suitable for the
number of people living in it. Councils will be free to charge different licence
fees. Landlords
have until July 2006 to get a licence. If they don't they will face fines of up
to £20,000 plus having to repay rent they got while unregistered.If an HMO
property doesn't have enough bathrooms the landlord could be asked to install
one by a certain date. If one is not installed, the licence could be lost and
a £5,000 fine given. N.B.
This information should not be relied on for accuracy and is presented here without
the responsibility of jml Property Service and the website
it is being displayed at. ©jml property Services 01/ & 11-05
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