Neighbour’s house has become a HMO

I do not understand the comments about increased fire risk. Surely there are other houses in the road with 4 people living in them or those that have attic conversions and a basement bedroom.

I was thinking the same, cornishpatsy. Nobody would sleep at night if they were constantly worried about houses in their street with only four people living in them catching fire?

Surely they're just lodgers?

The issue here is whether the house has to be licensed as an HMO. Given the numbers involved - 3 households ( landlady plus couple plus single person) it seems to fall in the area where a la may but not necessarily will require a licence or at least notification for a safety visit. However, there is an additional rule about three stories and this house seems to count as that - people living on 3 stories. That’s why only the relevant la can say whether it should be a licensed HMO or just an HMO.

Merlot In our last house a big Victorian semi, we had a cellar which was perfectly habitable, dry, tiled floor, light and power. It even had a small window in a deep window well. It was certainly a cellar and not a basement.

By "not engaging with her" do you mean sending her to Coventry? I hope not because not only would this be cruel, it would be counterproductive. If you all make strenuous efforts to be friendly you will do more good regarding fire risk than council interference.

You sound really nosey. How do you know all these details if you don’t speak with her. Keep your nose out and focus on your own life!

Our area, close to a large university, is full of HMOs for students. I think the rule here is that a house with three or more unrelated people has to be registered with the council. There are regulations about fire safety etc in HMOs.

I would report anonymously. If she's not breaking any rules it won't matter. I don't know if I'm more worried about the people in the attic or the person in the cellar. Unregistered HMOs are a danger to everyone who lives in the property and those who live nearby. If the people in the attic have a fire it could spread through to your roof without you even knowing.

blue25

You sound really nosey. How do you know all these details if you don’t speak with her. Keep your nose out and focus on your own life!

RTFT

blue25 15.23 today. Hth

if i were you the first thing i would do is to purchase 2 or 3 extra smoke/heat alarms.
place one in your loft/attic and one in lowest room. one near smoking woman room.
bear i n mind that if you raise a query with the council you would have to declare it on property details if you want to sell your house.
there is obviously some animosity between you and NDN. she sounds to be suffering from some mental health issues, maybe stress/anxiety due to difficult changed circs.
you do not know her benefits status, it is very complicated system. she may be in receipt of disability payments which are not means tested.
i would think very carefully and examine my motives carefully before trying to get her in trouble, and making other people homeless; collateral damage ?
this happened to a friend of mine. one tenant told the council about some mould in his room, whereupon all the tenants were turned out of the house. they were very annoyed at that man. they were happy there. now they are homeless. at a time like this. all minimum wage gig workers. precarious existence.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MadeInYorkshire

PamelaJ1

It sounds to me that she has taken in lodgers. If the attic room was a bedroom then it probably complies with building regs.
The cellar room sounds a bit dodgy though.
You can earn £7500/yr without paying tax under the rent a room scheme. I have no clue how that may or may not impact on benefits.

I thought about trying to increase my income by renting out a room - Benefits will only let you keep £20 a week so really not worth changing your life for!

Crazy though people are crying out for accommodation, yet if you try to help and try and increase your own income as it is just not enough, you can't!

As MadeinYorkshire pointed out earlier it doesn’t seem worth taking in a lodger for £20/week extra.

Is the loft room like mine I wonder? Mine is a Victorian house and the "loft" rooms are all intended to be habitable - they just have sloping ceilings.

If the landlord is living on the premises then it is not a HMO. End of,

Brahumbug

If the landlord is living on the premises then it is not a HMO. End of,

RTFT what you’ve posted is utter rubbish FFS

Suziewoozie, agreed, whether it's an HMO has nothing, at all, to do with the landlord living there.

cornishpatsy, the fire risk is far greater when there are tenants/lodgers as they have exclusive use of their rooms. They may well install fridges, mini cookers, toasters etc. rather than use the shared kitchen so much.

Older terraced houses often have gaps, where fire can easily spread, between floors or attics - especially if there has been movement or settlement over time. There may have been dodgy repairs and building work too.

My son bought a converted first floor flat in (apparently) decent condition. When he removed the kitchen units, the backs were very charred, floorboards/joists burnt through and smoke damage up the walls.

A family of mice were there too. A quick repaint had completely disguised the damage - and yes, next door had a fire some years previously!

I think it depends on whether the landlord has self contained accommodation or whether they are letting out rooms in their home. When I rented a bedsitter, my landlord lived in a self contained basement flat.

I think any complaint should be based on whether a house which has become an HMO has all had all the required gas and elctricity certificates and whether it has had a fire safety inspection. These complaints can reasonably be said to have been made because of your concerns about your own physical safety if there was any fire or other incident in the house that would threaten you.

I haven't read back through all the thread, but I am not sure a letting a cellar room would be allowed unless it had a window into a light well of some kind that could also act as a fire escape.

However about 10 years ago I sold a relation's house and the new owners got planning consent to turn a cellar room into a bedroom, the cellar had al ight well with a cross section of about 2ft by 18inches . The ground surface was about 6inches above the height of the window giving a total depth of about 3 ft

blue25, MissChateline has every right to protect her own safety and property. If that involves reporting her concerns she should do so.

welbeck - your comment makes no sense.

'bear i n mind that if you raise a query with the council you would have to declare it on property details if you want to sell your house'

That's not true. Only written, signed disputes or complaints, directly with the neighbour, have to be declared.

If the landlord has self contained accommodation then that’s obviously not part of the HMO as an HMO has to have shared facilities. In the case in this thread, all facilities are shared

We suffer flytipping. We rang council. They took all the bags except garden waste. What is wrong with these lazy people