HMO requires EPC

Once again the government is proposing further measures to clamp down on HMOs. The latest proposal is to require HMO landlords to obtain EPCs demonstrating the energy efficiency performance of their properties. These EPCs must be given to the tenant as they occupy a room in the HMO.

For the purpose of this requirement the government is proposing to define a HMO as 3 or more unrelated people sharing a house.

So from April a HMO will require Planning permission (if 3 or more than unrelated people are to share);
there will be a new Register for HMOs;
Local authorities have been given more ability to impose their own licencing criteria;
EPCs will be required, subject to adoption of the appropriate legislation.

Hands up I am not an EPC expert. From my purely novice point of view I would have thought that 6 people sharing a normal family house would require less power (energy) than 6 people living in 6 separate dwellings. Surely there takes less power to heat 1 dwelling than 6?

When will the goverment start to support private sector landlords who are actually helping to address the housing crisis in this country? It seems like more and more obstacles are being put in the way of landlords making it more and more difficult to provide a constant supply of decent quality rental accommodation to meet the needs of our society. Statistics prove that more and more people are chosing to live single lives. Single people need somewhere to live and a HMO provides a suitable, cost effective, alternative to living totally independently.