HMOs also have a particular role in providing affordable accommodation in areas of high housing demand where rents are high. Unfortunately both physical conditions and management standards are often worst in HMOs, and they can also pose the most significant fire risks to occupants. There is also public concern in some areas not just about the conditions to which HMO residents may be exposed but also about the impact of the residents themselves on the area and its amenities. Existing housing legislation and HMOs Specific provisions which apply to all HMOs are those relating to fitness for the number of occupants, overcrowding and regulations requiring the person managing an HMO to observe specified standards of management . Order 1997 places an additional duty on local authorities to ensure that fire safety measures are adequate in all HMOs of three storeys or above.
Local authorities can also introduce registration schemes for HMOs.
These put a duty on a specified person, usually the landlord or owner, to register the property. Registration periods are for five years and registration fees are charged. Schemes containing control provisions can be used to prevent multiple occupation of a house unless it is registered, or if the number occupying the property exceeds the registered number. Contravention or failure to comply with a provision of a registration scheme is an offence. Licensing of HMOs Continuing evidence of poor standards at the lower end of the private rental market and problems with the existing regime led to public consultation on proposals for a compulsory system of licensing for HMOs in April 1999.