Hmo Standards Essay Example

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Council officers are available to discuss alternative solutions and offer suggestions for specific problems. As names of officers, departments, and telephone numbers may change over time, a separate sheet with contact names and numbers has been included with this booklet.

TYPES OF HOMO LETTING

We assume that Gigs resides in a HOMO.

To clarify, there are different types of Homos with varying standards. This can be confusing as the expectations differ between traditional bedsides and self-contained flats. So, which type does Gigs live in? There are six categories of letting known as Categories A, B, C, D, E & F, following a tradition that dates back to the signing of the Magna Cart.

Category A houses are those where tenants have their own rooms, bedsides, or flats along with exclusive bathrooms and toilets. These features are not commonly seen in magazines. Although these facilities may be shared with others, the living arrangements are separate from each other. Typically, there is no sharing of kitchen, dining area, or any other facilities.

On the other hand, Category B houses are more frequently occupied on a shared basis. In these houses, individuals typically share bathrooms and toilets. Additionally, they usually share a kitchen and possibly a dining room and/or a living room.

Category C houses, or lodgings, have a resident landlord who provides services such as cleaning, laundry, and meals. Category D houses, called "hostels" or "guest houses," offer hotel-like accommodations for people without a permanent home. Category E houses are hostels that require registration under category 6. Category F houses are fully self-contained flats that were once residential properties. But what happens when a house doesn't

fit neatly into any of these categories?

The Council does not provide an exhaustive consideration of possibilities. Sometimes a house doesn't fit neatly into one category or may have characteristics of multiple categories. In these cases, the Council uses discretion to establish standards based on principles applied to other categories. However, Gigs ignores the categorization of his living arrangement because it is not discussed at the pub. On the other hand, Swig's landlord finds it necessary to determine the category of Swig's living arrangement for amenities and tenant limitations. This leads us to Section 3.7.

ROOM SIZE STANDARDS

The purpose of this section is to ensure that there is adequate space for Gigs to live comfortably in the same house as other individuals, and to provide him with necessary amenities such as a cooker and sink. As Gigs is not part of the Sardine family, he requires a sufficient amount of space to avoid feeling overwhelmed. No one wants to be startled awake in the middle of the night by a frying panhandle in their face, so these guidelines aim to establish basic rules that allow Gigs to have enough room for his own comfort.

The Council will adhere to the specified space standards if it determines that a HOMO is overcrowded. It's interesting to note that according to this law, any mentions of a "person" apply to individuals aged ten or older. Children between one and ten years old are considered as half a person. Surprisingly, babies under 12 months old are not counted as people at all, despite the various items associated with their care such as prams, cots, baths, layette boxes,

and stacks of nappies. It is important to bear in mind that these laws were established by highly educated individuals.

The table provided below outlines the space requirements for category A Homos. To fulfill these requirements, select a line from the table and ensure that rooms are at least the specified sizes. The landlord may choose to provide additional rooms such as a utility room or gymnasium. In Coventry, for the standard setup of one person living in one room, you must offer either a 13 square meter room or a 10 square meter room with a separate 3 square meter kitchen.

The minimum room size for a single occupant is determined by the presence of a shared kitchen. If there is only a shared kitchen, the minimum room size must be 6 square meters. However, if both a shared kitchen and living room are present, the minimum room size increases to 12 square meters. These specific requirements can be found in the lower half of the table.

In addition to these guidelines, other rooms in a Category B Home must also meet certain minimum sizes. The kitchen must have a mandatory size of 6.5 square meters. Optional rooms include an optional living room with a minimum size of 11 square meters, an optional dining kitchen with a minimum size of 1 square meter, and optional dining rooms with a minimum size of 11 square meters.

The total number of residents allowed in each house can vary depending on different ranges: from 2 to 5 residents, from 6 to 10 residents, from 11 to 15 residents, or more than16 residents. It's important to note that all Category

B houses are required to have a shared kitchen.

To take advantage of smaller editor sizes, the houses need to have a shared living room and can also have additional shared rooms. Category C houses are less formal and involve a resident landlord sharing their house and most facilities in a family-like manner. Category C Homos Persons in Bedroom Minimum Room Size (square meters) 1 234 Total Residents House 1- 56-10 11-15 16+ 6.5 10 16.5 21 Common Living Room (square meters) 11 16 21.5 25 9 Category D houses are guest houses/hostels. Category D Homos Sizes in square meters Persons in Bedroom:
1 -2 -3 Each extra Total Residents in House:
2-5 -6-10 Minimum Room Size:
8.5 -11 -15 -4.5 Kitchen:
7 Lounge:
3693 Dining:
2462 OR combined Lounge/Diner:
48 -12 -4 Category E standards apply to houses that are Residential Care Homes under the Care Standards Act of2000.In case there is any conflict between these standards and those prescribed by the National Care Standards Commission, the standards of the National Care Standards Commission will prevail.

In Bedroom 1, there are currently 2 people living. The total number of residents in the house can range from 2 to 5, or potentially up to numbers 6, 7, 8, or 9. Each additional Mint-inurn room is either 9 or 15 square meters.

The Living Room options include sizes of: 12.5, 15,17.5,20 ,22.5 and also a size of only 2.4 square meters.

The Dining Room choices are:10 ,10 ,10 ,11.2 ,12.6 and an extra option with a size of just 1.4 square meters OR they can be combined as the Letting/Dating area which offers sizes of:17 ,21 ,24 .5 28 .31 .5 and

another option with a size of only 3 .5 square meters.

These Category F Homos houses have been converted into fully self-contained flats where all living areas such as cooking facilities,bathroom,and sleeping arrangements are behind one door and exclusive to the occupier(s). Setting precise minimum room sizes may be difficult however it is important that the component room sizes shown in the table reflect necessary elements.

It is not mandatory to provide all the rooms mentioned in the table. They can be combined in various ways to meet the required accommodation. The Council will evaluate each arrangement based on its merits. All bedrooms, living rooms, and bathrooms must have direct access from a common lobby or hallway, not through another room. Category F Homos Occupiers Kitchen Sizes in square meters Living Room Bathroom Bedroom 7 10. 5 11 Living/ Sleeping 5. 5 5. 5 22 11. 513 13 16. 5 Living/ Kitchen 14. 5 14. 5 section 5- FITNESS & AMENITIES We have already mentioned that life in Gigs' HOMO can sometimes be challenging.

Living in a HOMO can be stressful as it can be annoying to have family members using the bathroom or playing loud music. However, families have ways of resolving these problems. The Council expects certain standards to be maintained in HOMOs to ensure that they are suitable for living and that amenities such as water and cooking facilities are always available. It is important to remember that Homos are still houses!

While there are specific rules for Homos, landlords must remember that their property is still legally considered a house and therefore must adhere to basic standards applicable to all houses. Some

of these standards were established in 1800s laws and may be straightforward in certain cases. Modern requirements, such as the Council mandating door locks, may not be feasible. However, landlords can still request proper maintenance of any existing locks.

All rooms must meet the minimum standards for fitness and amenities, which state that they need to have adequate natural or artificial lighting. To fulfill this requirement, rooms should have see-through glazing in a window or door on an outer wall. The size of the glazed area needs to be at least 1/10 of the room's floor area. This rule applies to living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchen-dining rooms, and any other areas where people spend significant time. However, non-habitable spaces like kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, water closet compartments, and games rooms are exempt from this regulation.

In cases where nearby buildings or vegetation obstruct the window, larger windows may be required. Scatters can be useful when dealing with vegetation. Ideally, non-habitable rooms should adhere to the same standards as habitable ones, but this is not always feasible. Thankfully, Thomas Edison and other experts have developed artificial lighting methods. This is beneficial because it enables the Council to enforce sufficient artificial lighting for both windowless rooms and nighttime illumination.

All rooms require an artificial general lighting source controlled by a switch near the room's entrance. A tungsten filament bulb with a wattage of 13 (or a 13-watt low energy lamp) is sufficient for a water closet area up to mom, while a 100 watt tungsten filament bulb (or a 23-watt low energy lamp) is appropriate for a bathroom up to mom. For kitchens up to mom,

a fluorescent fitting with a wattage of 40 is suitable. Timed light switches are not allowed, except for passageways, landings, and stairs.

Where timed light circuits are provided, they should allow residents enough time to enter the house and reach the furthest room, considering that they might be carrying heavy loads such as children. A minimum of two minutes for the "on" time is suggested. The Council advises landlords to use light bulbs with a different fitting than their own in the common areas when their bulbs fail.
Habitable rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and water closet compartments must have a minimum floor to ceiling height of 2 meters to allow natural ventilation through convection. Other rooms should not be significantly lower than this (e.g. around 2 meters), but it depends on their specific purposes. For habitable attic rooms or rooms with a sloping ceiling, areas with a height less than 1.5 meters are not considered. At least half of the remaining floor area must have a minimum height of 2.3 meters. All habitable rooms need to have ventilation directly to the external air through a window, with an area equal to at least 1/20 of the room's floor area.

Doors that open from habitable rooms to the external air will not be suitable for ventilation purposes unless they have a specially designed ventilation device that does not compromise the door's security. Kitchens, bathrooms, and water closet compartments should have a level of ventilation similar to habitable rooms. This can be achieved through a direct or ducted electrically powered air extraction fan capable of achieving at least three air changes per hour. (For reference, a typical bathroom

fan can provide 3 air changes per hour in a 13 square meter room.) Any extractor fan installed in a bath or shower room must have an "overrun" feature connected to the lighting circuit. This ensures that the fan continues to operate for 20 minutes (or at least one air change) after the room lighting is switched off, helping to remove moisture and prevent condensation and black mold growth. It also helps mitigate any unpleasant odors that may arise, such as when using a strong-scented body spray like "Come and Get Me." Heating can be a challenging issue for HOMO tenants.

Some HOMO rooms in Coventry can be difficult and expensive to heat. If landlords do not provide sufficient heating for the cold winter climate, tenants may use improper methods to keep warm. Landlords must ensure that every accommodation unit has appropriate heating, including at least one heating appliance for tenants renting either one or multiple rooms. Furthermore, shared spaces such as living rooms and dining rooms should also have a heating appliance.

Shared rooms must have heating appliances provided, and the cost of running them should be covered by general rental charges or general energy charges, rather than using a coin-meter. It is beneficial to provide proper heating as it reduces the need for maintenance and redecoration caused by condensation forming on cold surfaces, which can damage plasterwork or lead to mold growth. Although the Council only requires one heater per letting, a wise landlord should ensure that every room has sufficient heating to protect the building's structure.

If heating appliances are provided, they should be capable of reaching a room temperature of at

least 18°C within 1 hour of being turned on, when the air temperature outside is -1°C. It is important that heating is affordable for tenants. Most types of heating are acceptable, except for those that use full-price electricity, paraffin, or liquefied petroleum gas (LIP). LIP and paraffin are not only costly, but they can also be dangerous. Additionally, using LIP or paraffin can lead to condensation as the combustion products are released into the room.

The recommended choice for heating is central heating, but electric night storage radiators and balanced flue gas heaters are also considered viable alternatives. To ensure fire safety in escape routes, it is crucial to refer to the "Other Things to note about Fire Precautions" paragraph in Appendix A regarding space heating. In accommodations with high insulation and draught-proofing, using full-price electricity may be feasible as long as the overall cost remains affordable. It is important to mention that radiant heaters of any kind are not allowed in rooms with beds due to the higher fire risk.

However, fires in living rooms are acceptable as long as they are properly guarded. Additionally, all heating appliances must be securely fixed to the wall or floor and surrounded with the appropriate materials as specified by the manufacturer. As for water supplies, all homes must have a proper service connection from the public supply, provided by the statutory undertaker (Severe Trend Water pal in Coventry). The drinking water supply, specifically at the sink, should be taken from the rising main.

If there are concerns about the suitability of a water supply point for drinking, it must be clearly labeled as such. If accessing a

public water supply is not possible, the landlord must demonstrate that there is a safe and adequate supply by taking precautions against harmful substances and bacteria. The Council will conduct regular tests to ensure the water's safety.

All water supply pipes and any water control valves, apparatus, and fittings connected with the supply of water must be insulated against frost if they are at risk of freezing. This is typically the case in unheated common areas. However, landlords should also consider insulating all water pipes in houses that do not have central heating or will not be heated for extended periods, such as during the Christmas period. Baths & Showers In Homos, an adequate number of baths and/or showers must be provided to ensure that