What is a HMO?

A HMO is defined in Article 143 of the Housing (NI) Order 2003 as "a house occupied by more than 2 qualifying persons, being persons who are not all members of the same family".

A "qualifying person" is a person whose only or principal place of residence is the HMO. A student's term time accommodation is regarded as the student's only or principal place of residence while he/she is living there. A person is considered to be a member of another's family if he/she is that person's spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister.

However, for the purposes of the Northern Ireland HMO Statutory registration Scheme the following categories are exempt from registration:

• Any HMO which is occupied by persons who comprise no more than two families

• Any HMO which is occupied by no more than two persons in addition to the owner (or owners) and members of the family (or families) of owner(s).

HMO property types

The statutory definition from the 1992 Order applies to a broad range of different properties which, by their nature, carry specific risks and responsibilities in terms of health and safety, particularly fire safety.

For operational purposes we have adopted the classification described in the Environmental Health Officers’ professional practice notes. These are as follows: