It’s a tempting marketing strategy from a landlord’s perspective. Cram as many people as you can into a property and maximise your income. Taken to the extreme though, you can see how it would be tempting for a rogue landlord to put 20 people in a 3 bedroom semi-detached. So it’s perhaps no surprise that there are lots of rules and regulations about just how many people you’re allowed to put into any given property.
Overcrowding
When dealing with families, the key concept is overcrowding. In basic terms, count anyone over the age of 10 as one person, children aged 1 to 9 as 0.5. Add up the number of bedrooms and living rooms your property has. If you have three rooms (two bedrooms and a living room), then the maximum number of people is 5. That could be, however, two adults, two teenage children and two smaller children. Tenants whose property is overcrowded can get higher priority for social or council housing. You’re not necessarily committing a crime as a landlord if one of your properties is overcrowded, especially if the overcrowding is because tenants’ circumstances have changed
Unrelated Households
The main concern is around groups of unrelated people in an house share arrangement. Working out whether your house is defined as a house of multiple occupation (HMO) isn’t always straightforward. A house with only two tenants can never be a HMO, even when those tenants aren’t related. A property with three unrelated tenants might be, unless two of them are related or in a relationship. If you have a property with at least five unrelated occupiers, then you will have to licence your property as a HMO. This involves extra safety measures such as fire doors and hard-wired smoke alarms. If you’re unsure of how your property would be classed, get advice from a lettings agent or the housing office at your local council.
Penalties
This isn’t all just theoretical. Councils will prosecute landlords who knowingly flout the law and stuff their properties with too many tenants. At best, you could end up with a housing officer breathing down your neck and demanding you do remedial work. At worst, a prison sentence, hefty fine or both are on the cards.
Issues Affecting Maintenance and Rent
Most landlords charge the same for their properties irrespective of how many people are living there. Rent a three bedroom house to a couple, or to three couples and the charge is the same. However, having three times as many people in your property could result in three times the damage and more issues with maintenance and repairs. Often, less is more when it comes to tenants. Think about how you will draw up your tenancy agreement, especially how tenants are liable when one doesn’t pay the rent. If each tenant is responsible only for their own share, chasing defaulters can be difficult. It’s more common to make each tenant liable for the full amount to hedge your bets.
