House in multiple occupation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), also known as Houses of Multiple Occupancy, is a British English term which refers to residential property where ‘common areas’ exist and are shared by more than one household. Common areas may be as significant as bathrooms and kitchenettes, but may also be just stairwells or landings. HMOs may be divided up into self-contained flats, bed-sitting rooms or simple lodgings.

Strictly speaking, HMOs are not the same as purpose-built flat blocks, since most will have come into being as large buildings in single household occupation.

Some legislation makes a distinction between those buildings occupied mainly on long leases and those where the majority of the occupants are short-term tenants.