The government has issued amenity standards covering wash hand basins, bathrooms and WCs for licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). These are mandatory and all councils have to apply them.
Regulations under the Housing Act 2004 specify standards to be applied when determining the suitability of an HMO for licensing and refers to units of living accommodation in an HMO.
The schedule below outlines the number of toilets and bathrooms there should be in relation to the number of persons occupying an HMO.
1 - 4 persons
-
No requirement for wash hand basins (WHBs) in sleeping rooms
-
At least 1 bathroom and 1 WC (the bathroom and WC may be combined)
-
WHB not required in bedrooms
5 persons
-
1 WHB required in each sleeping room, plus:
-
1 bathroom, and:
-
1 separate WC with WHB (but the WC can be contained within a second bathroom
6 - 10 persons
-
1 WHB required in each sleeping room, plus:
-
2 bathrooms, and:
-
2 separate WCs with WHBs (but one of the WCs can be contained within 1 of the bathrooms)
11 - 15 persons
-
1 WHB required in each sleeping room, plus:
-
3 bathrooms, and:
-
3 separate WCs with WHBs (but the WHBs can be contained within 2 of the bathrooms)
