Property licensing in the Hammersmith & Fulham borough has been introduced primarily because of residential fire safety concerns, and in some instances rubbish disposal and anti-social behaviour issues.
It has been highlighted that many people are also unaware of the minimum fire safety standards in privately rented accommodation, such as having a mains-wired, interlinked automatic fire detection system and the appropriate testing procedures in place.
Consequences for failing to obtain the necessary license include financial penalties and an inability to gain possession via legal notices, have been introduced for landlords that fail to obtain the necessary license. This is designed to increase the safety and living standards of rented property throughout the borough.
The new requirements fall into two separate forms of licensing, these are:
Additional HMO Licensing
This applies to shared houses in the Hammersmith & Fulham borough rented to three or more people from more than one family.
Hammersmith & Fulham borough will process applications for either license, then provided the proposed licence holder is deemed to be a fit and proper person, they will issue the licence, but with conditions based on the information provided regarding potential improvements.
They will then inspect the properties by issuing a section 239 notice and issue improvement notices if conditions haven’t been met, or incorrect information was provided in the application.
About HMO Services London
Marsh & Parsons are working closely with HMO Services London, a property licensing service. They send a trained fire safety officer to assess the property to the same standards as the local authority, removing all liability from the client for misinterpreted regulations or incorrect application information.
HMO Services London put together a proactive action plan to bring the property up to the required specification, which is either acted on before the application is submitted or attached to the application with an agreed timeframe. We consider this preferable to reactive upgrades in response to imposed licence conditions, improvement notices and the chance of civil penalties.
HMO Services London have also formed a great relationship with the Hammersmith & Fulham Council, having been invited in house to test their systems and discuss expectations, procedures and common issues. Having a Fire Safety Risk Assessment and licence application managed by HMO Services London means they handle the entire process for you and it is unlikely the property will even be inspected if they have signed the property off as compliant.
A Fire Safety Risk Assessment with completed action plan stands up in court to prove you have done everything you can to protect your tenants.
To discuss whether your property requires a license, fill out this form with HMO Services London.
Enter the promotional code:
M&PCLIENT
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