Category Archives for "HMOs"

Why Migrant Workers MAY Be A Threat To Your HMO

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

Yes, more and more migrant workers are coming into the UK – and unfortunately, many of them take low paid jobs which mean that a lot of them have to live in HMO’s (houses of multiple occupation).

Now whilst this is fine when they are living in a licenced and regulated HMO, what happens when they live in an unlicenced potentially overcrowded HMO?

Two things spring to my mind – potential issues with language barrier/culture together with lack of understanding of their RIGHTS and thus potentially taking a tenancy up in an unsafe house.

This has particular issues for health and fire safety in HMO’s.  A recent article I read went into detail on the typical issues faced and what the local councils and fire services are doing to try and combat it.

So what can we as HMO landlords do about this?

Firstly, we should educate any of our migrant worker tenants as to the correct workings of any fire safety systems

Secondly, we should provide guidance or access to native speakers/written materials so that they can understand the issues in more detail.

Thirdly, we should provide excellence in accomodation which by its very nature should alleviate many of the issues that migrant workers face in finding accomodation in the UK.

Diary of a HMO Survival Guide Reader

By administrator | HMOs

I have just finished reading Matthews HMO survival guide (www.hmosurvivalguide.com).

I am going to keep a diary of my progress in working towards the 90 day goal of having one up and running. 

Introduction

My name is Jamie and I am based in the South East. I currently have a portfolio of BTL properties but not any HMO’s. I am looking to add a couple of HMO’s as soon as possible to the portfolio, hence me getting reading Matthews guide. 

90 Day plan

I am going to stick to the 90 day plan as much as is possible. I can see the only point where this is going to take a bit longer is in the finding of the property as I am looking to purchase the property BMV. The actual survival guide gives all the high level things you need to do to go out and make the guide a reality. The Action plan at the back of the guide is an exceptionally good motivation tool and step by step process to keep you on track. 

Diary

I have found the area I wish to invest in for HMO’s, this was an easy choice for me as I have a contact in that area who is going to do all my administration and running of the HMO for me. However as per the guide I needed to make sure that the area would support these type of houses. One advert on the internet did this with 9 replies in 2 days. I was then feeling very confident about the chosen area, so much so that I intend to try and buy two properties if I can find them. 

My current marketing is not setup for this area so finding a BMV is proving a bit more difficult than I had first imagined. EA’s are not really entertaining the ideas of the offers I am putting forward and I have not had any successful ones back yet. Last week I switched strategy and spent the whole day driving round the new build sites in the area. My thoughts were that there would be a glut of properties that developers would love to shift even if the discount was quite large. How wrong I was! 

Most of the developers have pulled back and are selling what is left before they build more, and they are selling! This means they only had a few houses on their books and again were not taking the offers seriously as they knew they would sell. I offered on about 10 – 12 houses. All were a no. I have since followed up and their sales have been going well to the public which means they do not need to sell at any kind of discount. 

This is where I am up to at the moment and am rethinking my strategy for finding the correct style house for the right price. 

I will post another update very shortly letting you know how I am getting on finding the 1^st property.

For more information on how you can get started with HMO’s, go to www.hmosurvivalguide.com

HMO Survival Guide Launches – Get Yours Today

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

Hi everybody,

Well after a long wait for my HMO property investing guide, an incredibly long time getting the website sorted out and some last minute teething problems, my new “HMO Survival Guide – Thriving In The Credit Crunch” is finally out.

Take a look at the video below that I created for you – and when you’re done, head over to www.hmosurvivalguide.com to check out the report and the ridiculously cheap price I’m giving it away for!

Why Accreditation of HMO’s is a Good Thing For Property Investors

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

I recently recorded a video about one of our HMO properties being accredited at the highest level possibly in Derby.

Watch below to find out why accreditation can be so important and beneficial to HMO landlords.

A HMO Strategy for the Credit Crunch

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

OK, so you’re in the midst of the credit crunch, some of your mortgages have come down, the pressure eased a little bit but you’re still not making enough to either give up that dratted job or support your lifestyle.

So what can you do?

In the good times you could have:

• remortgage onto a better rate, pulled out some money and still paid less than you were paying
• sell a house, use your capital gains allowance and bank the difference
• bought and sold a house in 60-90 days
• gone and done another cashback deal

Sadly, in todays market, its become slightly more difficult to do this.

So, if I may suggest a HMO strategy that anybody can do – and it will even help you understand whether or not you want to get into HMO’s in a big way.  So what do you need to do?

1. Face up to the fear of doing a HMO and do it anyway!
2. If you own a property, then ideally chose one which is at LEAST 3 bedrooms (it just doesn’t work doing it for less rooms than that).  If you don’t own a property, then focus on getting a property with at LEAST 4 bedrooms (or 3 bedrooms if you are still feeling the fear!)
3. Follow the steps in my FREE ecourse (you can sign up at the top right) and get your first HMO set up.

If you have any questions, then put them under the “Ask Matthew” section and I will answer them as soon as I can.

Who pays for the council tax in a HMO?

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

To me this is quite an easy one but to some people, its a bit muddy.

I read an interesting article recently in the excellent Nearly Legal blog on the joys of housing law.  Don’t immediately switch off because I mentioned the law but read on to find out a little more about whose responsibility it is to pay the council tax.

In the eyes of the council and housing law; the owner or tenant is responsible for the council tax.  In a HMO where you are renting rooms on an all-inclusive basis to your sharers, it is YOUR responsibility to pay the council tax.

If you are renting a HMO to students where they generally pay most of the bills – it is their responsibility to pay the council tax – except as students, they are one of the few exempt people to not have to pay the council tax.

In the blog posted on Nearly Legal, a tenant rented a property, claimed never to have moved in, then sub-let the property to four people (making it a HMO) but did not pay the council tax.   He claimed his tenancy ended after six months and that he had never lived there.

These two points are irrelavent because a tenancy automatically converts to a periodic tenancy after six months unless notice is given and it is the responsibility of the owner or the tenant to pay the council tax.

As this tenant was renting from the landlord, the responsibility passed over to the tenant even if he was not living there.  There were several other extenuating circumstances which the article goes into but it is worth remembering that you, as the landlord are responsible for paying the council tax.