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Houses in Multiple Occupation(HMO)
Important Information regarding Fife Council’s Scheme of HMO Licensing
On 31 August 2011, Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 came into effect and replaces the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. Part 5 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 sets out the system of licensing of houses in multiple occupation, with some changes to its provisions.
Fife Council’s revised HMO Licensing Scheme reflects the new legislation, including other relevant legislation such as the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. At time of writing further legislative amendments are proposed within the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011 and these will be reflected within our Scheme in due course and further to additional guidance from the Scottish Government.
The opportunity has also been taken to update areas such as tenancy management, physical standards and licensing conditions, generally any such changes seek to achieve similar standards across all local authorities, although it is still open to local authorities to apply alternative conditions and standards where they feel that it is appropriate.
Applicants should also be aware that the Scottish Government has issued new Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities on the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation. Separate guidance will be prepared specifically for landlords, and all of the information will be made available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/BuiltEnvironment/Housing/privaterent/government/hmo . In due course guidance will also be provided for tenants and neighbours.
You can now download the new HMO application form and Guidance, along with all other associated documents when applying for an HMO Licence. (See all documents below)
We appreciate that HMO applicants will have a number of questions regarding Fife Council’s revised HMO Licensing Scheme and we have created an information sheet that addresses the most frequently asked questions. The information sheet is called ‘Your HMO Questions Answered’ and can be downloaded by clicking on the highlighted text.
For any enquiries regarding HMO applications, please contact HMO Licensing on 01592 583162 or email HMO.Licensing@fife.gov.uk.
