Renting rooms in home I'm moving out of but work from

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hi, possibly a bit of unusual case so finding it difficult to search for information/advice.

I own my house and still have a mortgage on it. I am looking to move out to live at my partners so this will not be classed as my main residence, but due to space I will currently still remain working from one of the bedrooms set up as an office as I hybrid work between home and office (mostly home).

If I was to rent both spare bedrooms, would this then make it classed as an HMO due to me only working not residing there. Would anyone moving in be classed as tenants rather than a lodgers and if so what type of tenancy agreement would this fall under, and what requirements would I need to follow. I potentially have a friend and his brother interested in moving in so would be from the same household which I think may impact whether an HMO or not.

It may be in the future that I rent the whole house out which ill likely be less complicated, but

I have contact my insurance company to query about buildings/contents insurance and whether it would need to be a landlords insurance and even they are unsure and are looking into it.

Sorry for lots of questions and grateful for any advice.

2

first thing to do ,see what mortgage company think about that idea

3

Yes, the occupants would be AST tenants on individual room only tenancues with a licence to use common parts. It would be a housing HMO if there are more than 2 unrelated people. It would be a Council Tax HMO regardless as you not letting the whole space. This would mean you would have to pay the CT and charge a higher rent to cover it.

The legal requirements of this set-up are already complicated enough, but about to get a lot more so under the Renters Rights Act. I would suggest you don’t self manage unless you have a lot of time and experience.