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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that Houses of Mulitple Occupancy are managed effectively in (a) the UK and (b) Portsmouth.

HMO licences are issued by the local authority and are valid for up to 5 years. It is the local authority’s responsibility to ensure a licence is granted to a fit and proper landlord. Those landlords that fail to comply with regulations are subject to enforcement action from the local authority. Enforcement guidance has recently been refreshed and published.