Houses Of Multiple Occupancy (HMO)

Landlord Registration and HMO Enforcement

A house of multiple occupation (HMO), is a residential property where 'common areas' exist and are shared by multiple unrelated individuals.

Most HMOs have been subdivided from larger houses designed for and occupied by one family. Some housing legislation makes a distinction between those buildings occupied mainly on long leases and those where the majority of the occupants are short-term tenants.

The definition of an HMO has its origins in fire safety legislation, following a series of preventable deaths in overcrowded buildings.

For safety reasons, in Scotland, all HMOs must be registered and must comply with certain standards and obligations.

An HMO in Scotland is a property that is shared by three or more tenants who are not members of the same family or household.
The landlord must be "a fit and proper person" and there are annual inspections to check the property (2006 Act).
Hostels and halls of residence for students or nurses are considered to be HMOs in Scotland
Local authorities are encouraged to take a co-ordinated approach to the planning and licensing of HMOs
Local joint working between planning and licensing teams and other relevant departments, ensures that we avoid:
- high demand for available services, infrastructure and on-street parking provision
- increase in incidents of antisocial behaviour including noise
- increased competition for private houses,
- consequential rises in house prices,
- reduced availability for non- HMO residents;
- potential physical deterioration caused by lack of investment by absentee landlords;
- a high number of transient residents leading to less community cohesion
- monitoring demand for HMO's in conjunction with short term lets (STL's) to avoid over saturation of the market

In West Lothian, if there is a query/complaint about a property possibly being used as an HMO from any of our Community Safety Partners or members of the public, we will coordinate the following line of enquiry;

Engagement

All queries in relation to a private landlord are directed to the Landlord Registration Team
Customers wishing to raise a query in relation to a landlord should use Private Landlords - West Lothian Council where they will find the online query form.
Alternatively, the Landlord Registration Team's email: landlordregistration@westlothian.gov.uk; will take the details of the query, or contact 01506 280000 should a customer have no internet access.
Customers will receive acknowledgment within 5 working days from the date the query was submitted, updated on the progress off the query and will be advised of the final outcome.
All correspondence will be issued to the customer by letter or email.

The Landlord Registration Team and partners will carry out enquiries with the occupants and Landlord to enquire if the premise is an HMO and if it is licenced.

Enforcement

If the property in an unlicensed HMO, the enquiry can take 28 days to complete.
There are rent penalties for landlords registering late. In addition, acting as an unregistered landlord is currently considered as a criminal offence and there is a fine up to £50,000.
Landlords must adhere to the legal requirements adhering to working smoke alarms
A Welcome Pack is sent to new registered Landlords, with a declaration for signing and legal requirements to be adhered to.
Therafter, once the pre enforcement action has been taken, details are passed to the Safer Neighbourhood Team for any further action.

Complaints:

Complaints in relation to unlicensed HMO's are to be reported direct to the Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT). email snt@westlothian.gov.uk or call the Customer Contact Centre on 01506 280000.

When the SNT receive a complaint in relation to an HMO, they will inform the Landlord Registration Team with details of the property and landlord if known, for enquiries to be carried out.