Landlords who convert homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) without permission could face unlimited fines under a law that came into force last month.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act beefs up councils’ enforcement powers to deal with planning permission breaches including unlawful changes of use, for example from a regular rented home to an HMO. This gives them the power to issue unlimited fines and make it tougher for rogue developers and landlords to get planning permission in the future.
And landlords who fail to deal with poorly maintained properties could also fall foul of the new rules. According to a Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson, “local councils can use enforcement powers such as a Section 215, asking a property owner to clean up land, which could apply to landlords owning poorly maintained properties”.
Procedural changes make enforcement easier for councils
Councils will now have 10 years to begin enforcement action against unlawful changes of use or building works that are substantially completed after 25 April 2024. Previously, councils only had four years to bring enforcement action.
Meanwhile, landlords (and other homeowners and developers) who want to appeal enforcement notices will have to progress their appeals quickly or risk having them dismissed.
Letting agents can help landlords comply
The rules for when an HMO needs planning permission vary from local authority to local authority, and so expert letting agents can help landlords stay on the right side of the law. For example, many councils, especially in urban areas, use Article 4 directions to require planning permission for converting homes into small HMOs (with three or more unrelated households).
Running an unlicensed HMO can already come with heavy fines and potential orders to repay rent to tenants. And in areas with Article 4 directions in place, landlords can sometimes accidentally turn their property into an HMO – for example, if two unrelated tenants move a friend in with them. Letting agents can help prevent this by carrying out inspections for their landlords.
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