Insurance News Archive

Buy to let insurance policyholders with HMOs 'face more licensing rules'

Posted by Dan Winters

Oxford City Council may introduce an Additional Licensing Scheme for landlords with Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) to cover the whole city.

Licences are already required for larger three-storey HMOs, but under the new proposal, all multi-tenant residences in the area would need to obtain one.

A statement from the authority has explained that the new legislation would allow council representatives to visit properties on a proactive basis, rather than only in the event of a problem or complaint.

It said: "We could also be able to specify conditions on the licence that the holder must comply with and if there are any unresolved problems, legal action could be taken which may result in the licence holder losing their licence."

The council has also said that landlords who have already been found guilty of relevant offences would not be able to obtain licensing for a HMO, requiring them to have a letting agent run the property on their behalf.

Consultations on the proposed scheme have been ongoing for some time and will continue until a decision is announced on June 21st 2010.

28 May 2010