Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of refuge providers in England own their own property; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the licensing regime on those providers.

Under House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) legislation, rooms in licensable HMOs that are under 6.51 square metres cannot be used as sleeping accommodation by one person. Local housing authorities have discretion to consider local circumstances and require higher standards within HMO licence conditions, but must not set lower standards.

The purpose of this legislation is to reduce overcrowding in HMOs. The Government consulted extensively on the changes to HMO licensing at the time and there was broad support for the extension of scope of mandatory HMO licensing.

The Department does not hold information on the number of domestic abuse safe accommodation providers, including refuges, that own their own property.

My Department is working with local authorities to raise standards across the private rented sector, to protect vulnerable tenants, including those living in HMOs.