HMO rules – What is the worst case scenario for me?

Reply to the comment left by "Ian Narbeth" at "06/10/2016 - 09:38":

hi it is an EX-Council flat we bought. It is a maisonette so living room, bedroom kitchen - and upstairs, 3 bedrooms, bathroom, toilet etc. It is on a 2nd3rd floor of a 3 storey block.
The freeholder is the council.
Leasholder is myself. I am sorry to bother you all with this and value your feedback.

Reply to the comment left by "Faiza Alia" at "06/10/2016 - 10:46":

Then you should have been licensed. On the basis of what you have said you will not be able to operate it as an HMO. You also need to check your lease. It may say that it can only be used as a single private dwelling in the occupation of one family. Also, did you need and did you obtain the landlord's consent to subdividing the living room? I assume not. I cannot think the Council would have consented to your new "bedroom".

The Council might in a worst case forfeit the lease.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you are now caught between the Council as landlord, the Council as housing authority and your tenants whom you cannot evict until you sort matters out.

I hesitate to ask if you have taken deposits and if you have protected them.

Gosh, this is an interesting scenario...

I would agree with the comments about coming clean and resolving to rectify the situation. I fear that if you try to cover up or.back track on what you have done, this will not be looked upon favourably.

With the phrase in law 'ignorance is no excuse', you may well face certain fines, but taking immediate action to resolve will hopefully keep worse consequences at bay.

I wholeheartedly agree that you need to educate yourself fully if you intend to continue to let properties. Thank goodness that nothing worse has happened, otherwise you would be in real trouble.

Just to mention, and in addition to all other advice, you would have needed to obtain not only the Freeholders consent to reconfigure the lounge, but also this would have fallen under Building Regulation. You would never have been allowed to do this as no external window/ventilation.

Take it as a lesson learned and sort out as quickly as possible consulting all the right people. Best of luck with it all.
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Hi Faiza, i'm having a similar issue, how did this work out for you in the end? I should have licenced a 4 bed flat (let to 4 tenants on one tenancy agreement) and Camden has served me with a notice. The tenants are due to leave any day, it was a one year tenancy. Wondering what how aggressive Camden is likely to be.

Reply to the comment left by Jon Waters at 28/08/2017 - 12:53
How did it work out for you Jon?

Hi I'm in a similar position no hmo , verbal agreement, no deposit protection! Need to evict 4 out of 6 people for drug related things and the state of the house being unclean even though there is a cleaner!! Oh and a gun! The police have been informed. Also I've only been a sole trader for a year. I've rented for 4 . I've not profitted from this only payed my interest only mortgage. I'm really worried. Please advise.

Reply to the comment left by Dale at 07/03/2018 - 19:54Dale
I suggest you see a solicitor who specialises in this area. There is only so much people on this board can say without knowing all the facts. Given that there are clearly some gaps in your knowledge of the business, I would not recommend you trying to complete the necessary paperwork to evict your tenants without legal help..

Hi Faiza, in your case it would be better to put your hand up and admit to your Local Authority that you have concerns. I would even invite them to the property and ask for advice on what is required to bring it up to the expected standard, admit that your in a pickle. I hope you have the budget to fund all their requirements though. In recognition of your efforts to be open and address the issues, they are more likely to be more lenient on you than if they inspect and find you are not licensed and overcrowded etc. In most cases you will be given a deadline in which to make good. At least then you will know exactly where you stand. Your mortgagee provider is unlikely to find out that you really should have a BTL Mortgage so I see this as a secondary issue, but even so you could be looking at changing this in tandem with talking to the LA. With regard to the awkward none rent paying tenant - serve a section 21/8 today, don't be blackmailed! It is likely in any case that you will have to reduce the number of tenants that you have - he's made your decision easy for you! Maybe join your local Landlord Association and keep an eye on the Property 118 forum - stay informed - good luck. Let us know how you get on though.

Reply to the comment left by Rob Crawford at 12/03/2018 - 14:38Rob you write:
"With regard to the awkward none rent paying tenant - serve a section 21/8 today, don't be blackmailed!"
Sorry, but that is bad advice. Until Faiza has sorted himself out he is at grave risk and even then he may have problems.
First of all, he cannot legally serve a s21 notice if his licensable HMO is unlicensed. Second, whether a s21 or s8 notice is served, if the tenant takes advice he may learn that he can reclaim up to 12 months rent because it was unlicensed. Third, if the tenant takes advice he may learn that Faiza has committed an offence by not getting licensed. The tenant may threaten to report him to the LA/police for prosecution. What is Faiza to do then?
Fourth, Faiza needs to check if he has registered any deposit correctly and served Prescribed information within the requisite time, failing which the tenant will claim between one and three times the deposit.
I don't mean to be rude to him but Faiza appears to be a complete amateur landlord and he needs to get professional advice before he blunders into anything else. The very fact that he has legal representation should help him in dealing with the Council and the tenant. The Council will see he is behaving responsibly and his lawyer can set out the steps Faiza will be taking to comply with his obligations.
Simply throwing himself on the Council's mercy now may backfire if the Council decides to throw the proverbial book at him and it will be harder for a lawyer to get the Council to cease action than to nip it in the bud.