We also undertake the following specialist surveys:

• HOUSES OF MULTIPLE OCCUPATION SURVEYS.
• HOUSING STOCK SURVEYS
• WINDOW AND EXTERNAL DOOR SURVEYS
• KITCHEN SURVEYS
• DAMPNESS AND CONDENSATION
• Air Quality Monitor available from £65 per week.
• Our HEALTHY HOMES SURVEY which is basically an MOT for housing projects, deals with Issues of disrepair as well as the 29 hazards listed within the governments HHSRS standard. Damp and mould are a growing challenge for social landlords, which are compounded by equally pressing priorities of energy efficiency retrofit, routine maintenance and fire safety. Full Healthy House Survey costs between £195 and £325 subject to house size.
• HOUSING AUDITS to inspect general condition of houses and check on any safeguarding issues, tenancy fraud and ascertain whether the current data on the tenant is up to date. Costs between £75 and £110.

HMO SURVEYS ARE AN INDEPENDENT SURVEYING COMPANY SPECIALISING IN HOUSES OF MULTIPLE OCCUPATION.

HMO licensing – All local authorities in England must now license all HMOs of three or more storeys, which contain five or more people in two or more households. They can also apply to the Secretary of State to introduce additional licensing for other types of HMO that do not meet the mandatory licensing criteria, including traditional two-storey buildings, and for selective licensing of all private rented properties in particular areas. The aims of these three approaches overlap in places but are also somewhat distinct. Mandatory licensing has been introduced mainly to raise the property and management standards in the larger higher risk HMOs that pose the greatest management challenges. Additional licensing has similar aims, covering smaller HMOs where management issues have been identified. Selective licensing of privately rented property must be justified on the basis of anti-social behaviour and/or pressures of low demand for housing.

There are constraints to property licensing. The biggest one put forward by local authorities is a lack of resources to implement and enforce the new system. Authorities have first relied on private landlords to come forward and seek a licence. It seems that authorities are only now using more proactive approaches to getting unlicensed properties licensed. In addition, many people state that mandatory HMO licensing misses most student and migrant worker properties because such households live in traditional two-storey terraced houses, so fall outside the mandatory scheme.

All councils are in the process of implementing HMO licensing. Nottingham Council, for example, had doubled the size of the team that deals with licensing and was targeting particular parts of the city. Exeter Council, meanwhile, said that they already had a good knowledge base on HMOs, so were confident that they had licensed the majority. Southampton has now issued all licences for properties where landlords have come forward. They are now focusing on enforcing action for properties that should be licensed. Some London local authorities are using the services of partnership surveyors due to lack of staff to undertake the house surveys for the local authorities.

With this in mind HMO Surveys offer an independent service whereby we undertake the initial investigation of the house of multiple occupation after an applicant has applied for a license. We visit the house and complete the paperwork required by the local authority and submit it for local authority approval. We charge a fee of 60% of the local authority fee leaving the outstanding 40% for the local authority which perhaps has problems in recruiting the extra staff or cannot fill temporary vacancies.

Gas Safety Certificates submitted to council every year. Smoke alarms installed and maintained. Safety Certificates for all electrical appliances must be available on request

We can also offer downloadable files which highlight certain aspects of HMO Licensing.