Ask a landlord what their HMO duties are and they will describe their licence conditions. The management regulations are a separate and wider set, they apply to every HMO whether licensed or not, and breaching one is a criminal offence in its own right.
They are also short. Reading them takes fifteen minutes and almost nobody does.
Which instrument
- Ordinary HMOs, England: the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006.
- Section 257 HMOs, England: the Licensing and Management of HMO (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007 — a different set. See section 257 HMOs.
- Wales: its own parallel instrument. Cite the Welsh one for a Welsh property.
Who they bind
The manager — the person managing the HMO, which is broadly whoever receives the rents or would receive them. Not the licence holder as such, and not the tenants. Using an agent does not move the duty unless the agent genuinely is the person managing.
The duties
Reg 3 — provide your contact details
Name, address and telephone number given to each occupier, and displayed in a prominent position in the HMO. It is the simplest regulation and among the most commonly breached — a notice in the hall satisfies it, and its absence is trivially provable on inspection.
Reg 4 — fire safety measures
Take all reasonable measures to protect occupiers from injury by fire: escape routes kept free of obstruction and in good order, fire safety measures and equipment maintained in good working order, and notices indicating escape routes displayed where the design requires them. See fire safety in HMOs.
Reg 5 — water supply and drainage
Maintained in good, clean and working order. Tanks covered and insulated, no unreasonable interruption.
Reg 6 — gas and electricity
Supply not unreasonably interrupted, and here is the sharp one: the manager must supply the council with the latest gas appliance test certificate within 7 days of a written request, and the same for electrical installation certificates. Seven days, on request. Not "when convenient".
Reg 7 — common parts
Maintained in good and clean decorative repair, safe working order, and reasonably clear from obstruction: handrails and banisters secure, stair coverings safe, windows and fittings maintained, outbuildings and gardens in a safe condition, and shared lighting adequate.
Reg 8 — living accommodation
Each unit and its furniture maintained in good repair and clean condition at the start of an occupation, with windows and fittings in good working order.
Reg 9 — waste disposal
Sufficient bins for the number of occupiers, and arrangements for disposal in line with the council’s collection service. An HMO with a domestic bin and eight occupiers breaches this every fortnight.
Reg 10 — the occupiers' duties
Occupiers must not hinder the manager, must let them access at reasonable times, must comply with the fire arrangements, must dispose of waste properly and must not damage safety measures. It is a defence in some circumstances that a breach was caused by an occupier — but you have to show you took reasonable steps, which means a written record of what you asked and when.
What a breach costs
Breach is an offence under section 234(3) of the Housing Act 2004. On conviction the fine is unlimited — and legislation.gov.uk still prints an old maximum, for the reason set out in why legislation.gov.uk shows the wrong fine. A civil penalty of up to £30,000 is available as an alternative to prosecution.
Each regulation is a separate offence. An inspection finding a blocked escape route, no manager’s notice, and insufficient bins is three breaches, not one, and councils price penalties accordingly. See HMO conditions breaches for how the two sets stack.
The point most often missed
No licence is required for these to apply. A three-person shared house in a council with no additional licensing designation needs no licence at all — and every one of these duties still binds the manager, enforceable by civil penalty. "We are not licensable" is not a defence to any of them.
Regulation 6 gives you seven days. Keep certificates where you can produce them. Documents live with the property.
Information tool, not legal advice.