Tag Archives: HMO landlord

Diary of a HMO Landlord: Noise, Leaks, Squeaks & Rubbish

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After my initial Diary of a HMO Landlord post all was calm and foolishly thought to myself I’m not going to have much to write about this week, but how things change!

So what’s been happening?

I have had the electricians in at one house rewiring each room so they are on their own circuit and meters fitted so I comply with The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 and this also ensures tenants are accountable for their usage in their own rooms, all went well until a phone call the next morning about the central heating making a “gurgling” noise. Turns out one of the water pipes had fractured when the wires were being pulled through, which resulted in a lovely water feature in one of the down stairs rooms. On a positive note double boarded ceilings are still intact so it was just mopping up water, drying out carpets and getting the plumber around to solder the damaged pipe.

New tenants moved into a property, former residents of the Salvation Army homeless hostel who are very happy to have a clean and safe environment to live in and have put up with living on the streets but couldn’t put up with the squeaky fire hinges on their new door, so I treated them to a squirt of WD40.

As mentioned the new tenants love the free broadband access, but in other houses it can prove to be a pain in the arse. We all know broadband is a must especially for students and professional working tenants, but there is only so much a landlord can do as I DO NOT provide the service. One house has had intermittent service due to engineering works being carried out by the ISP but still tenants moan on at me and it came to a head when I get calls at 10PM moaning about the service Virgin Media supplies, as you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased especially when my phone ringing woke our baby!

Had the usual calls from Cardiff Council Housing Options Team enquiring what property I have available this week, also chasing “top up” from tenants that have Overpayment Recovery taken from their Housing Benefit Award, the latest tenant having a deduction of £6.50 per week from their Housing Benefit award to pay back about £5000 in overpayments.

At the other end of the spectrum, chasing professional tenants for their rent, the ones who never set up a standing order so the usual text each month to remind them to pay their rent on time and set up the standing order for next month, which they never do.

Rubbish is always a common theme encountered by HMO Landlords up and down the country, tenants don’t seem to like recycling and if they do manage to put rubbish in large black wheelie bins provided by Cardiff Council they don’t like to wheel them out onto the pavement for fortnightly collection so we soon get a build-up of black bags, I don’t know what is going to happen when Cardiff Council half the size of their black bins, be rubbish everywhere!

Finally my favourite aspect of being a HMO Landlord the legalities of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement and tenants serving “Notice to Quit” when they are on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy (SPT), affectionately known as a “month rolling”, or not serving as the case may be. All tenants love it when their fixed term comes to an end and they have the flexibility of a SPT but none of them seem to like the fact that the tenancy runs from one rent day to the next and they have to serve their “Notice to Quit” in writing, giving at least one months’ notice and ending on a rent day. This important point is highlighted when the tenant first signs the AST, also it is on the notice board and once again pointed out once their tenancy moves from a fixed term to a SPT, do they play by the rules, no way!

The latest one believes it is ok to text me on Saturday evening of a Bank Holiday weekend asking if they serve notice this evening, will they still have to pay their next rent payment, then continue to barrage me with text messages and emails up until 7AM today saying they are not paying rent whatever happens because they have found a new place. A phone call this morning has cleared up the situation.

And finally this afternoon I receive a call from the next door neighbour of a property I own. There seems to be an issue with noise, the neighbours words were “it sounds as if they are kicking a football against the party wall all night long”. Next on my “To Do List” find out what or who is creating the continual thudding! I will let you know how I get on.

Feel free to ask any questions via my blog or complete the form below if there are any specific HMO topics you would like me to discuss.

Diary of a HMO Landlord

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I have been involved in property investment since 2002, but started getting drawn towards Multi Let property and Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) from around 2008 as the penny dropped that buying for capital appreciation and my retirement was all well and good, but I needed to pay for today.

So in 2008 I started my Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) education, I read books, visited internet forums and attended as many free webinars as I could enabling me to slowly piece together the HMO puzzle until I felt confident enough to make my first purchase at auction in 2010.

So for the last 5 years I have been actively purchasing and refurbishing property in Cardiff to create both professional house shares and also multi let property for Housing Benefit tenants, I know everybody says I am mad!
As you can imagine the last 5 years have been quite intense carrying out numerous refurbishment projects and one hell of a steep learning curve dealing with a broad spectrum of tenants, but 5 years later I am still here and loving what I do.

Why this post?

I have learnt so much but until now haven’t had the time to share but if all goes well I intend to share my knowledge in the form of a weekly “Diary of a HMO Landlord” entry which will hopefully provide readers with a real insight into what it is to be a HMO Landlord.
Just in the last two weeks I have had to rod manholes full of crap, had meeting with charities completed numerous tenancies, Housing Benefit forms, been a social worker and put up with the usual of tenants thinking they can terminate their tenancy whenever they like!

I love being a HMO landlord, but I don’t think you could write a job description for the role as there are so many different elements you have to be aware of.

Anyway that’s enough rambling for now; I hope you enjoy my future “Diary of a HMO Landlord” posts and please feel free to ask any questions via my blog or complete the form below if there are any specific HMO topics you would like me to discuss.

HMO Landlord Fined for Unsafe, Overcrowded and Unlicensed Luton Property

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Another HMO Landlord added to our “rogue Landlord” feature, a useful guide of how not to go about managing a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) and multi let portfolio.

HMO Landlord Khaled Ahmed, 36, failed to attend Luton Magistrates Court on 15 October where he was ordered to pay nearly £53,000 for operating an unlicensed, unsafe and overcrowded House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO).

This Luton HMO Landlord has gone for the hat-trick by managing a unsafe, overcrowded and unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and following a number of complaints from tenants living at the property at 35 Dunraven Avenue, officers from the Council’s Private Sector Housing team carried out an inspection of the eight-bedroom, four-storey house where a number of health and safety breaches were found the most serious being structure altered internally causing a number of potentially fatal fire safety hazards.

This rogue HMO Landlord provided poorly sub-divided rooms to gain additional smaller bedrooms so more people could live there. One bedroom measured just five square metres as well as a young female student living in the attic space, which could only be accessed by an unstable staircase, without windows, ventilation or heating. Other hazards related to obstructed fire exits, accumulations of rubbish, lack of fire doors, and lack of fire alarms and disrepair to the property.

The Magistrate described the property as a ‘death trap’ run for commercial gain and convicted Mr Ahmed for all breaches.

Mr Ahmed was fined £15,000 for failing to licence the property, a further £4,000 for each of the nine breaches of the Management of House in Multiple Occupation Regulations 2006 which totalled a further £36,000 and a £15 victim surcharge. The Council was also awarded £1,957 costs. Total fines and costs amounted to £52,957 which is one of the highest fines recorded in Luton.

As a further consequence the tenants can apply to the Residential Property Tribunal for a Rent Repayment Order to claim back all rent paid for the past 12 months.

When handing out the fines, the Court also took into account that Mr Ahmed had taken over £22,500 in rent and deposits from tenants.

Cllr Tom Shaw, Portfolio Holder for housing, said: “This is one of the worse cases we have ever seen with tenants being subjected to dangerous and potentially life threatening conditions. What makes it worse is that the actions of the landlord were deliberate and purely for commercial gain.

“I am glad that  substantial fines were imposed, as this serves as a strong warning to any other landlord who thinks they can get away with this illegal behaviour. HMOs need to be licensed to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of the occupants and to prevent them living in overcrowded conditions with insufficient facilities.”

“The Council takes the condition of the private rented sector very seriously and we have recently embarked on a programme of inspecting all Houses in Multiple Occupation within Luton. We will not hesitate to take further court action should any other offences be committed.”

Anyone living near or knowing of such a property which they believe to be an unlicensed HMO should contact the council on 01582 54 72 22 or email HMO.Hotline@luton.gov.uk.

Rooms in Cardiff is a provider of landlord services across Cardiff and South Wales specialising in multi let property, Student housing, professional house share and house of multiple occupancy (HMO) and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

You can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@RoomsInCardiff.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.

ASBO HMO landlord fined for breach of fire regulations

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The UK’s first residential landlord to be served with an ASBO has been found guilty of failing to comply with fire regulations at a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

The ASBO HMO landlord, Catherine Boyle, 59 of 14 Iverson Road, London NW6 was convicted at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 6 November.

The defendant was found guilty for failing to carry out works specified in an improvement notice from Camden Council and four breaches of fire-related House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) regulations.

Boyle also breached her HMO licence by providing her tenants with non-fire retardant furniture.

The UK’s first ASBO landlord was fined £3,600 and ordered to pay Camden’s costs of £4,459.60. Boyle must pay the sum within four months. A failure to carry out works could see her prosecuted again by the authority.

The council had served an improvement notice on Boyle in April 2011, requiring her to carry out extensive works to rectify serious hazards by November last year.

When Camden’s inspectors paid a visit in January this year, the work had not been completed.

The council gave the defendant more time to comply. However, in May this year inspectors found that the fire detection and alarm system were not connected to a power supply, fire doors were inadequate and furniture was still non fire-retardant.

The house of multiple occupancy (HMO) also had poor thermal efficiency and windows “in a terrible state of repair,” Camden said.

The ASBO, lasting for two years, was obtained at Highbury Magistrates’ Court in January 2011.

Under the order, Boyle is prohibited from causing harassment, alarm or distress to her tenants, entering their rooms without consent, and cutting off their gas and electricity supply.

Camden’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Julian Fulbrook, said: “We inspect all our HMOs regularly to make sure they comply with all health and safety regulations so that tenants are safe in their homes. In the most serious cases we have the power to revoke an HMO licence and take over the running of the properties ourselves.”

Rooms in Cardiff provide services to landlords across Cardiff and South Wales who own a house of multiple occupation (HMO), Multi Let property, Student Housing or a professional house share and offer the following services:

Rooms to Rent in Cardiff  £120 Fixed Fee Tenant Finder (No Tenant No Fee)

Property Listing page to advertise your available rooms on Spareroom, EasyRoomMate, Gumtree and Zoopla until let for one Fixed Price.

HMO Rent Guarantee No Void Periods & No Fees

Alternatively you can contact Rooms in Cardiff via email info@webletz.co.uk

Telephone 0845 496 0000

or by completing the form below to arrange a call from one of our team.