Understanding HMOs — a Nottingham Manual and learning from others

The fact that Broxtowe Borough Council is taking an interest in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), thanks to its recently elected Labour/Liberal council, is to be celebrated.

I had hoped they would spend the rest of 2019 gathering together what data they already have, whilst delving deeper into their records for even more. The fact that I have not asked for such data, even though I know it exists, is because I have been, and remain, mindful of the extra workload I place on diligent council officers who get the job of responding to my Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.

To give you just one example. The Council's student council tax exemption form requires the property owner applying for the exemption to list the names of the tenants/occupants of the property in question as I show below (click on image to enlarge):

The owner is not always a landlord. Parents of students buy houses for their children or the students buy them. For some the fact that they become landlords is almost accidental. 'Our Mark can live with his friends, they can all have a room each, and they can help pay the mortgage and running costs too'. 

A landlord, on the other hand, is always on the lookout for a chance to make money. His move into renting out houses to students is calculated. Look at the form below. My next FOI will ask for the number of names on every student council tax exemption form (not individual names). This will enable me to say how many of the exemptions are for small, unregistered, HMOs and how many are for large HMOs (the latter should equal the number of HMO Register entries, excluding the exceptions). The following pages from Nottingham City Council's HMO Manual should help you understand the process. Broxtowe Borough Council should be publishing something similar.

Remember, Nottingham also require small HMOs to register. Broxtowe doesn't.