If a house is occupied by three or more students it is an HMO and if unlicensable will be dealt with by the PRI team.

If it is occupied by 5 or more on three or more storeys as it sounds as though this is, it will probably be licensable and dealt with by the HMO Licensing Team or the Operational Coordinator, Paul Rotherham.

The HMO will be able to get the landlord to do repairs. We are able to take action under a number of pieces of legislation to ensure essential repairs are carried out. However, prior to taking formal action in all but the most extreme cases we will normally attempt to deal with matters informally.

This is to comply with the enforcement concordat to which the Council has signed up and Private Sector Housings Intervention and Enforcement Policy. There is a considerable amount of information on HMO's and HMO licensing on the councils website at;

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/hmo

If you want any more information on what the HMO team can do- either generally or regarding a specific case, then please contact the HMO team or your local councillor.

Paul Rotherham
Operational Coordinator
Private Sector Housing Services
Neighbourhoods and Community Care
Sheffield City Council

Howden House,
1 Union Street,
Sheffield,
S1 2SH

Tel: (0114) 273 5117
Fax: (0114) 273 5526