Council defeats appeal over HMOs, business premises and number of storeys

A business premises situated below a house in multiple occupation (HMO) will count towards the number of qualifying storeys, a High Court judge has ruled.

According to barristers’ chambers 12 College Place, an unnamed council had brought a prosecution against the defendant for managing an HMO when she did not hold the requisite licence required by the Housing Act 2004.

At first instance, the Magistrates’ found that the premises satisfied the definition of an HMO within the meaning of section 254 of the Act: it was a self-contained two-storey flat situated above a restaurant and occupied by a number of unrelated tenants who shared basic amenities.

The defendant was the manager and leaseholder of the premises and received a rental income from some of the tenants. She appealed.

The issue on appeal was the correct approach to calculating the number of qualifying storeys when considering the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Descriptions) Order 2006. The dispute concerned whether a restaurant situated below the HMO amounted to a qualifying storey.

12 College Place, whose Poonam Pattni appeared for the council, said Sir Ross Cranston, sitting at the High Court, ruled that Article 3(3)(c) of the 2006 Order was found to require that a business premises situated below an HMO would count towards the number of qualifying storeys.

The authorities of London Borough of Islington v Unite [2013] EWHC 508 (Admin) and Bristol City Council v DIGS (Bristol) Ltd [2014] EWHC 869 (Admin) were applied in support of this interpretation.