- Government publishes key licensing changes to further protect tenants
" />
Posted 20.06.18
GOV.UK: Article link
New guidance for landlords to further protect tenants from poor living conditions has been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Following legislation introduced last month, from 1 October 2018 any landlord who lets a property to 5 or more people - from 2 or more separate households - must be licensed by their local housing authority.
The move, affecting around 160,000 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), will mean councils can take further action to crack down on the small minority of landlords renting out sub-standard and overcrowded homes.
New rules will also come into force setting minimum size requirements for bedrooms in HMOs to prevent overcrowding. Landlords will also be required to adhere to council refuse schemes, to reduce problems with rubbish.
The guidance document includes further details on extending mandatory licensing to smaller HMOs and introducing minimum bedroom sizes as government continues to rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords.
