Warning over HMO tenants facing eviction or rent rises
A landlords' association is warning that thousands of tenants who live in shared houses are facing rent rises or eviction because of rule changes.
The warning comes from the National Landlords' Association (NLA) who say there could be consequences as an extra 160,000 homes in multiple occupation (HMOs) are now having to be registered with local councils.
The new rule was introduced on 1 October and effectively trebles the previous number of HMOs that had to be registered.
The government says the registering of HMOs will help boost housing standards for renters.
A HMO is defined as a property where unrelated people share facilities such as bathrooms and kitchens and sleep in separate rooms.
There are around 500,000 HMO properties in England with more of these now need inspecting by local authorities, whereas previously HMOs that were more than three storeys high with five or more people living in them needed to be licensed.
New rules are ‘another burden’ for landlords
The NLA says that the new rules are ‘another burden’ for landlords working in the private rental sector.
The organisation's chief executive, Richard Lambert, said: "These extra regulations will increase landlord costs, and when costs rise landlords will look to pass these on which may mean tenants pay more in rent.
"Some landlords will want to reduce room numbers they rent out to comply with the legislation, but some tenants will face eviction."
A spokesman for Tenants Union UK said landlords would be wrong to increase rents because of the new legislation.
He added that their organisation welcomed the new rules and want all rental homes to be subject to regulation to help improve standards.
Less rental stock enters the market
Meanwhile, it's been revealed that there are fewer homes to rent coming to the market and rents are starting to fall in some regions.
The findings from Your Move show there is less rental stock available for tenants this year.
Lettings director Martyn Alderton said this may be down to tenants living in their rental home for longer or growing numbers of landlords looking to exit the rental market because of legislative changes.
Their report also highlights that rents fell in the past year in London by 1.4%, but they are still the most expensive at £1,272 per month.
Rents also fell in Wales and the North East, but rose in all the other seven regions monitored.
