The Landlords Union “Press Liaison” Questions HMO Minimum Room Size Impact Assessment

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 12/05/2018 - 20:06To be fair Mark, I think Marek's answer is more of a "No Comment" (not a "No"), in relation to the questions you've asked. He clearly does not wish to answer those vital questions, or has no suitable answer to the dilemma that tenants of small rooms are facing.

Marek, if you post the question about ideal room sizes for future house building standards, as a new and separate post to this one, then I guess you will get a proper discussion with opinions from landlords, tenants, and also property developers.

Reply to the comment left by Robert Mellors at 12/05/2018 - 20:17
I will graciously go with all of that.

Reply to the comment left by marek at 12/05/2018 - 20:10I can answer ( a question you have Marek ) about how to run a business - it involves making decisions. A benefit of being employed by someone, is you can criticize and moan without having to make a decision.
Few politicians are in ( a successful ) business, clearly, as otherwise they wouldn't be in politics. So, I'd guess Mark isn't a Politician 😉

Reply to comments left by Marek.
I have read all the comments in this post and have re-read your comments. Firstly, a room smaller than 6.1 m2 should not be a room that one should have to live in as a bedroom which I am sure most landlords would agree with and this is a good point that you have made. However, as these rooms already exist, it makes absolute sense to use them at a time when there is a housing crisis which is continuously getting worse.
Any fool with a little common sense would realise that it does not make sense to have to evict a tenant from his or her accommodation and make them homeless just because people like you believe that the room is not of the right size so should not be used to house a person who would otherwise be homeless. In doing so, the other tenants who are in a situation where they are possibly only just barely able to afford the rent may too have to be made homeless due to the Landlord either having to raise the rent or evict them and possibly sell up. This crazy size issue would only make the housing situation even worse than it already is, with possibly significantly more people having to live on the street.
To sum up, with the two questions that have been repeatedly asked on this forum, I understand that if you answered Yes the tenants should be evicted and Yes the rents should be put up, it would only show the degree of stupidity with the points that have already been raised.
Politicians only make these rules to look important and make their mark without a clue as to what is going on in the real world.
For your information, I do not have any rooms that I am renting out that are smaller than 6.1m2

Reply to the comment left by Clint at 12/05/2018 - 21:01
Just to be clear, I don’t have any rooms of that size to rent either. However, I try to see it from the perspective of a person who already rents a room of that size and is in grave danger of being made homeless. Well said Clint.

Reply to the comment left by Robert Mellors at 12/05/2018 - 20:17
Thanks Robert. This indeed is my position.

However, it does not take a very high IQ to see it in the following way :
(a) This is a matter that affects HMO owners' investment and this is why you are on this forum, and it affects tenants' circumstances, but they have no body like yours to fight for their rights
(b) What is, is, and it was legal when enacted ( but then we still drive on the left side as nobody could agree on a way how to switch to what the rest of the world does, and make our cars cheaper; on 3 September 1967 Sweden did and it was done, no hustle...)
(c) If local authorities want to lift space standards ( rightly ) this should not be retrospective and should not force landlords to kick people out of rooms, which are now seen as too small. There must be a time line to this change and there is a cost to it.
(d) Local authorities should agree a time scale and help HMO owners with the cost of upgrading room sizes ( presumably by reducing the number of rooms in a given property by way of combining them ) and to help tenants to move to 'legal' rooms
(e) Local authorities should not allow properties with small rooms to be converted into HMOs. As I stated, this to my mind is the key problem, missed by somebody many years ago - a small room in a house or a flat is not such a big issue, a small room as the only place that a person has as a TMO tenant is really bad news. There should be two separate space standards - one for 'normal' homes and one, much higher, for TMOs

My interest is creating quality of life and I offered a comment on this forum as in my view the existing space standards in the UK are abysmal and well below those in developed countries ( https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/10909403/British-homes-are-the-smallest-in-Europe-study-finds.html )

Reply to the comment left by marek at 12/05/2018 - 21:14
I am out

Reply to the comment left by marek at 12/05/2018 - 21:17
Thank you for answering my questions, eventually.

After many attempts to reason with the relevant council officer I was literally left with no option but to sell a property that was located within one of the new licensing areas last year. 2 of the bedrooms had a much larger floor plates than 6.51 sq m, but as they were top floor with some sloping roofs they were technically “undersized” at the level that the licensing officers measure at. 5 bed property (very popular and not a day’s rental void ever) sold to a couple with no kids. 5->2. As others have indicated - I too wonder how many rooms are going to be similarly “lost” to the market on a macro level.