A Short Legal Analysis of the Law Relating to Homes In Multiple Occupation

This is a difficult area of law, where the law is ill defined. It is an important area of law because homes in multiple occupation (HMOs) need to be safe and the law attempts to make them safe by having very harsh penalties for contravention of the law, but without making it easy for landlords to understand what the law is. It places landlords in a difficult and sometimes impossible position. The applicable statutes are badly drafted and in important aspects unclear, which is an unsatisfactory state of affairs where the statute imposes criminal sanctions.