Renting our house out - HMOs, fire alarms etc

[BorisCat]

We may have to rent out our house for a while. Because it is 3 storeys & will probably be let to 4 sharers it will be classed as an HMO.

Have been looking online at all the stuff about fire alarms, self closing doors etc which sounds a bit expensive. Also am worried our home will end up looking like a hotel - we want to move back one day or sell to another family.

Does anyone know about this? Is it expensive & what does it involve.

If it is four sharers, I believe it will not qualify as a HMO (five separate sharers minimum). Whether it qualifies or not, I think it still worth putting in a decent fire alarm system and you can get self-closing doors that don't rely on big arms coming out of the top of the doors - go to a hardware store and ask about the smaller ones that operate on a chain and are hidden (you will need a carpenter to fit them but they are much cheaper than the bigger sort, about £15 each from memory so it evens out).

isn't it smoke alarms rather than fire alarms?

they are not difficult

Three storeys and more than one "family unit" ie couples are a "family" or four singles would be four "families" will make it an HMO.

3 storey properties should have linked smoke alarms and self closing doors anyway, as per current buildings regs.

Now have looked again I realise that you need 5 tenants to have to be liscenced. But what if some of our tenants had overnight visitors ? Would we have to ban guests.

Also we have some lovely doors with old coloured glass in them - would I have to get rid of it & replace with horrible fire doors.

Our house is v old so imagine it didn't come under any kind of fire regs. The reason its 3 storeys is becoz basement has been converted into kitchen (but it does have a window to outside).

Boris, you need to discuss this with your local authority housing officer. However, the house will be classified as an HMO even if not licensed and in my area you would need to put in at least an L2 fire alarm system and fire doors to each room. Depending on size of house
the alarm system would start at about £2k. Fire doors are not expensive but you also need to fit intumescent strips and handles that can be opened from the inside.If your door frames are unusual sizes then fitting starts to get expensive. The fire door chains are rubbish and many local authorities will not accept them. There are special self closing hinges that you can use instead. You may also need an electrical certificate and of course a gas safety certificate. Why not let to a family instead?

Not really feasible to let to a family where we live (in London). All the houses around are let to "young professionals" - its just not a family renting market.

Oh dear - this is a real pain. Will talk to local authority.