Visits of the dewllinghouse by the HMO inspector
Visits to the HMO are made exclusively after having served the appropriate notice to the “relevant person” and by agreed appointment. Any other visit including alleged emergency may not be allowed. In case of an emergency, people can call the emergency services, either the police or the fire brigades in case of active fire or REAL emergency. If a notice has not been served, we may deny access to the dwelling-house.
The number of people conducting the inspection.
Only one person is allowed to conduct any one inspection. If you believe the council has the right to have a group of people to conduct the inspection, please state where this is granted in the law, and we will allow it. Up until now, no council could provide legislation which allows the council to conduct inspections in groups of people. Therefore we will only allow one person in. If there is another person we will NOT let them in and we will keep them out and close the door behind us. We will not keep any entrance door open the other person will be left OUTSIDE. If the law entitles the visit to be conducted in groups of two three etc please present this to us and we will allow the group otherwise the policy it one person per inspection at any one time.
Inspections from the fire services.
We will only grant access after the fire services have served us a notice in writing and specifying what law they are using to access the dwellinghouse. Excerpt of the legislation is mandatory. If an emergency is claimed in order to access the dwellinghouse this is required to be a real emergency (a fire). Electrical appliances in the house are not considered to cause any emergency entry.
The number of people conducting the inspection.
Only one person is allowed to conduct the inspection from the fire services . If you believe the fire services has the right to have a group of people to conduct the inspection, please state where this is granted in law in writing and we will allow it.
If there is another person we will NOT let them in and we will keep them out and close the door behind us. We will not keep any entrance door open the other person will be left OUTSIDE. If the law entitles the visit to be conducted in groups of two three etc please present this to us and we will allow the group otherwise the policy it one person per inspection at any one time.
No picture or video recording will be allowed in the HMO dwellinghouse.
No picture or video recording will be allowed in the HMO dwellinghouse unless this is expressly permitted by law. We may on the other hand use video and voice recording.
After inspections reports and requests for mandatory maintenance repairs etc.
Every request for works to be carried out, needs to be backed by the relevant legislation in clear terms. For each request to be considered acceptable, it has to be confirmed as a requirement REFERRING to the relevant legislation. The excerpt for quote of the relevant legislation, for each request, has to be presented in order the request not to be regarded as subjective or unnecessary. Requests based on anecdotes, arguments, or personal judgment may not be considered a real requirement and maybe ignored at our discretion. To be clear , where a request is not justified by quoting the relevant legislation including the relevant excerpt, case law we may ignore it at our discretion. If the relevant legislation for a specific request cannot be provided by the authority, also, peer reviewed studies may be acceptable. Anecdotes and arguments do rarely constitute a legal requirement.
Hazard Levels
When the council utilizes “hazard levels” in their post inspection reports these need to be justified with the appropriate legislation, standards ect.
We have seen reports there the fact that a wall was stained meant risk to life. Hence for any hazard level to be credible it has to be JUSTIFIED by law and be PROPORTIONATE.
Reports that present all highest hazard levels without any reference to law hose credibility.
Reference to British Standards
These are acceptable, but we advise that the correct excerpts from the British standards need to be presented. British standards are accessible upon payment of high fees. Therefore, the appropriate excerpt is required for the correct action to be taken.
Any size of HMOs are dwellinghouse
HMOs are dwelling houses and not businesses. As a dwellignhouse the tenants and any visitor have their statutory rights and those MUST be respected and any action that violates those rights may result in legal action as well as publication of those violations.
For example while the electricity supply can be disconnected to a business, disconnecting the electrical supply or make the residents of a dwelling house homeless is a criminal offense unless the appropriate court order is obtained.
The HMO cannot be closed down under any circumstances and their residents cannot be made homeless unless a court order is obtained.
Most of our HMos have a Grade A fire detection system and they are fully functioning. If the system develops a fault this is displayed in the fire panel, these faults are very easily corrected. Usually within a few hours. All our HMOs have fire doors installed and hence there is not real risk that supports a drastic action since any minor issue can be rectified BERY EASILY and fast.
For these reasons, any attempt to intimidate by mentioning closing down the HMO or issuing a prohibition notice may be met with legal action if we deem it appropriate.
Here there is proof of the classification of HMOs as dwelling houses.
In the event of misconduct of the officer and/or unlawful behaviour and abuse of office.
Any misconduct could result in:
Civil Action
Publication of all the evidence on the internet
In extreme cases, video documentaries
And private prosecutions.