Southampton City Council

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Safety and Standards

The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 require that owners / managers of a house in multiple occupation ensure that the property is maintained in a safe condition, that gas and electricity supplies are maintained and that reasonable standards of management are applied. A summary of the regulations can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.

Fire Safety
A national document giving guidance on fire safety precautions is available. This document has been published by LACORS (Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services). Southampton City Council and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have adopted the principles set out in this document when considering fire precautions in HMOs.

The Fire Safety - Housing guidance now considers the fire precautions required on a risk assessment basis. This means that the landlord is responsible for producing a fire risk assessment for each property individually. The guidance document explains how to carry out a fire risk assessment and is available to download from the bottom of this page.

Amenities needed in an HMO
We require that Houses in Multiple Occupation have basic levels of amenities. The property must have rooms of a reasonable size and have enough bathrooms, cooking facilities and toilets for the number of people living there. Our own amenities standards are shown as a downloadable document 'Guidance on amenity standards' from the bottom of this page.

Downloadable documents

Icon Name of file Size Download time
PDF document National Guidance on Fire Standards 08 1575 KB 6secs @ 2Mbps
PDF document Guidance on amenity standards (June 10) 44 KB 0secs @ 2Mbps
PDF document Summary of Management Regulations 20 KB 0secs @ 2Mbps
Link to download Adobe Acrobat if required

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