Welcome To Wirral

What this means basically is that a house is a HMO if the people living there are not part of the same family and are not living together as such. Typical examples of HMOs are houses that have been converted into bedsits or self contained flats or bed and breakfast accommodation where there is sharing of facilities. What it does not include are properties that have been built purposely for use as flats or maisonettes which have current Building Legislation approval.

The Risks

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or ODPM for short, is the government department responsible, amongst other things, for monitoring and legislating for the way in which public and private sector landlords manage their properties, and the standards that those properties should be providing to ensure a reasonable standard of living and ensuring the health and safety of the occupants.

It has long been known that living in a HMO presents the occupant a higher risk to his/her health and safety. In 1997 the ODPM published the results of research by ENTEC Plc, the organisation used by the government to survey the national incidents and statistics with regard to fire safety. The findings showed that the risk of death or serious injury to a person living in a HMO is six times more likely to occur than to a person living in a singly occupied house. What this means that if you live in a house which has been converted into flats or bedsits, you are six times more likely to die from fire than adults in ordinary houses.

HMOs and the Council

Because of the risks, Councils are actively encouraged to seek out HMO’s in their borough and assess them to see if they meet the standards required with regard to its fitness to be lived in and how safe it is, with particular emphasis on fire safety.

Wirral Borough Council is currently undertaking a survey of the Borough to establish this because there is a commitment to improving housing conditions in the private rented sector and fire safety measures are considered to be of paramount importance.

HMOs and the Law

The Housing Act 1985 (as amended by the Housing Act 1996) is the legislation that gives Local Authorities the power to enforce its standards on HMOs. In addition there are three further ways which support the Councils efforts. These are The Housing (Fire Safety in Houses In Multiple Occupation) Order 1997, HMO Licensing/Registration schemes and the Housing(Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 1990.

The Housing (Means of Escape from Fire in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997The provision of means of escape from fire and other fire precautions in houses in multiple occupation is covered in the Housing Act 1985 (as amended). However, following a number of serious fires nationally in HMOs, concern was expressed during the proceedings on the Housing Act about fire safety in houses in multiple occupation. As a result, the Housing (Means of Escape from Fire in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997 was made.

Statutory requirements for adequate fire safety and other fitness standards in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) are controlled under housing legislation by local housing authorities, with certain HMOs the Local Authority has a duty to exercise their powers of enforcement to ensure that adequate fire precautions are provided in all types of houses in multiple occupation including three storey self-contained flats.

The Authority recognises the important part that Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) play in the private rented sector in providing low cost rented accommodation, although a high percentage of HMOs are without adequate fire precautions. The Local Authority are actively risk assessing HMOs in the borough at present and are implementing the requirements of the Housing (Fire Safety in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997. Also the legislation recognises that the setting of adequate fire safety standards requires the involvement of the fire authority and this is provided for in the legislation by a mandatory consultative process.