Question

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) (England)

Escape Window

26 May 2018 | 1 comment

I’ve recently purchased a property that was set up as two apartments one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor. I am turning it into a 5 bed/5 ensuite HMO. The windows in the property are fine but they do not have a side escape opening, just two small opening windows at the top. Will I need to change these if the room is going to be a bedroom?

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    The answer will depend on any risk assessment you carry out for fire. The legislation requires “adequate fire precautions”.

    Firstly, as there will likely be 5 or more occupiers, an HMO licence will be required from October this year which means you would be wise speaking with the council now to see what they may require when it does need a licence.

    Secondly, please see the LACORS fire safety guidance and in particular, chapter 14 which starts on page 16 and talks about escape windows.

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