Clause 44 - Licensing of HMOs to which this Part applies
Housing Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
I have a number of questions that relate purely to definition, and I think they all relate to my own student days. Will the Minister clarify the types of property that we are talking about? First of all, will he tell us whether this particular clause touches on houses or flats in which the landlord himself or herself is living? This situation does arise from time to time. A student may be fortunate enough to have wealthier parents, who may have purchased a house or flat for them while they are at university, and they could be living there with other students. It may simply be that a landlord in a student area chooses to rent out parts of his or her home in order to gain extra income—I have seen nothing on the face of the Bill that answers that question for me.
When I was a student at the university of London many years ago, I lived in a flat in a property that was probably about five or six storeys high. The property had a front door as the entrance, and then there were several contained flats, in some of which staff of the university lived. When I think back to that property, I am not sure whether the Bill would have applied to a flat in that building, of five or six storeys, occupied partly by students and partly by university staff.
Lastly, in common with many students I spent some time in a university hall of residence. I presume that these are not covered by the Bill in any way, but I would also welcome clarification from the Minister on that point when he replies.