To accept a huge loss on my house

[CurlyHairMare1]

I live in a semi detached house in a quiet cul de sac. I’ve spent a lot of money doing it up and making it lovely. Early this year my neighbours (the ones I’m attached to) sold their house incredibly cheaply as it needed an awful lot of work doing to it.

A man bought it to do up and rent out, I understood he had a property business so assumed he’d be the landlord.

Fast forward to now and he’s actually turned it in to an HMO. He has a number of them across the city.

I put my house on the market in Spring and I just can not sell it due to the HMO. I’ve had a number of offers accepted and they have all pulled out when they have found out what I’m attached to so I’m now declaring it up front.

Would I be unreasonable to sell my house for way under asking price just so I can get rid of it? The estate agent has suggested it would need to go for nearly 100k less to even get any kind of interest.

I’m exhausted with the whole situation.

For me, I would need specific figures to have an accurate opinion. It’s not clear to me, what the £100k loss consists of and whether it’s less than what you bought it for or just less than what you anticipated your renovations to be valued at.

It could be the case that you made home improvements that aren’t necessarily popular for example.

Yeah, the HMO is a downside to the average person. However even the HMO suggests there’s demand where you live, even if it’s to landlords wanting to buy to let. So maybe you need to pivot and make it seem like a decent yield rental as opposed to a family home.

Did the council circulate the neighbours before granting permission for change of use? He may say he has a licence but has he? And was this granted without giving neighbours a chance to register their objections. Once one house is made an HMO in a small restricted location it has a massive effect both on the neighbours peaceful occupation of their properties and the value Many councils are very aware of the suitability or otherwise of a particular location University towns such as the one I live in have become very concerned about over supply of HMOs in some areas.

You have a cast iron case. Complain to your local councillor & also make an appointment with CAB.
Register a complaint with local council either by letter or email and keep a diary.
Also consider Environmental Health for any nuisance - noise rubbish etc

I've not read the full thread so forgive if I'm going over old ground, I'm just worried for you that if you rattle too many cages, you might find it even more difficult to sell, ie disputes have to be declared when selling?

I sank about 40K+ into a previous property & it took me years to sell - no disputes, just no offers.. eventually someone offered me 10K more than I'd bought it for years before, I thought seriously about it & accepted, just to move to where I needed to be. Obviously I couldn't then buy the type of property I'd imagined, but did move & am happy & settled. Good luck, I hope it all works out for you.

Irrelevant comment, though. The point at question is simply that some (quite a lot of) people DO THIS, so needing a mortgage is not an obstacle which would rule him/her out as a buyer.

Can you complain to council about this?

Really….? You need to ask….

The problem is that regardless how good the residents of the HMO are, HMO has such a bad press as do HMO landlords. That is why it has devalued the OPs house. HMO tends to be associated with slum landlords, student accommodation, migrants, those on benefits - and generally get a bad press.

Heres what AI says: There are laws and planning controls relevant to HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), but the drop in neighbouring property value itself is not something you can claim compensation for. What can be done depends on whether the HMO is lawful and compliant.

1. Planning use class
2. A standard family home (Use Class C3) can be converted into a small HMO (Use Class C4) for up to 6 occupants sharing basic facilities without planning permission under permitted development rights.
3. A large HMO (7 or more occupants) always needs full planning permission.
4. Some councils have made an Article 4 Direction, removing permitted development rights. In those areas, even small HMOs require planning permission.
5. Licensing
6. Any HMO with 5 or more occupants forming more than one household must be licensed by the local council under the Housing Act 2004.
7. Councils can also run additional licensing schemes for smaller HMOs.
8. Environmental and nuisance laws
9. Noise, rubbish, parking congestion, or antisocial behaviour can be dealt with under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, or local environmental health powers.
10. What to do
11. Check if the property has HMO planning permission or a licence via the council’s planning portal or housing department.
12. If not, you can report it as a suspected unlicensed or unauthorised HMO.
13. If it is licensed, you can still submit evidence of nuisance or over-occupation breaches. Councils can revoke or refuse renewal of licences.
14. Property value
15. There is no statutory remedy for loss of value. However, if the HMO breaches planning rules or licence conditions, enforcement action (up to prosecution or closure) could restore lawful use, indirectly improving market value.

This is going to happen all over the country as has been widely reported in the press. The guy has a licence so too late to fight this. I can not believe so many of you asking; what is wrong with that. Asylum hotels will close, HMO’s are the “solution” and it is huge business for the likes of Serco who offer a guaranteed above market rental yield to landlords for 5 years with all repairs paid for. Your only option is selling to one of these companies. I really feel for you.

More likely not professionals being housed there

Did he get planning permission?. How come you didn't know.

No he didn’t get planning permission so I had no opportunity to object. He was given a licence despite having no planning permission.

Can you contact your local member of parliament and ask for a meet up. They are usually quite happy to get involved especially in a case like this.

Yeah definitely. Google local MP, they normally have regular surgeries where you can go along and speak with them or it will tell you how you can contact them

This is why I'd ban landlords.

There are companies that provide accommodation for immigrants (boat people), paid for by the government. Would the one that covers your area be interested in buying your house?

If I were you I would get in touch with your local Council and ask many housing Associations in your area as possible and see if they would be interested in buying it. They get their new grants in April and tend to buy some private properties to add to their portfolio’s for people on the housing list. We once sold a beautiful self build to via the Council to a housing Associations and it was such an easy sale as we had no estate agency fees and minimal solicitors fees due to using who they recommended. 🤞 good luck.

Unfortunately you no longer need planning permission. Just a licence (which Rachel Reeves didn’t get). To prove you have insurance, electrics certificate, carbon monoxide monitors and a few other bits. They have eased these rules in many councils to make it easier and there won’t be any opportunities to object as there is no planning requirement. All engineered to ease the burden for the councils as they have nowhere to house people. All engineered by the government.

I believe you need planning permission in this area due to an article 4 direction

You need to find out asap!

You keep repeating the same information and what is being said to you, but what advice are you following and what have you done do far?

MN cannot solve this for you!

A house a few doors down from me has been converted into HMO. The neighbours have no noise problems but all of us on the road have a problem with all the extra cars and 2 work vans. I wouldn't choose to live next door to one. Maybe sell to someone who wants to rent it out and not live there themselves.

What type of HMO? 3 or 4 young professionals sharing a newly refurbed home I wouldn't mind. Students or supported housing I certainly wouldnt want to live near.

Also the "loss" may not be as big as you think, if you compare what you would have paid in rent over the same period. I'm potentially selling mine for the same I paid but I've saved approx £60k compared to renting in the 10 years I've owned, plus the mortgage payments have built equity which will be refunded to me when I sell, so I see myself in quite a lot of "profit" even selling for the same price or less and accounting for legal fees, removals etc (estimated figures)

We currently are going through the same thing. We maybe lucky though as we have had a warning that it's happening so they whole street are getting together to stop it