Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether houses in multiple occupation (HMO) that house a mixture of asylum seekers and non-asylum seekers will be exempt from HMO registration regulations.

The regulations will temporarily exempt HMO properties from licencing which are acquired by the Home Office service providers to house asylum seekers only. These changes will not compromise standards and all properties will be independently inspected for quality to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements. HMO properties used by the Home Office for asylum accommodation are not used to house people who the Home Office does not have a duty to accommodate.