The Property Unleashed Podcast

HMO Notice Board Essentials

• Mark Fitzgerald • Episode 304

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Navigating the complexities of managing a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) requires a sound understanding of compliance and tenant relations. An essential, yet often overlooked element of HMO management is the notice board—easily the most straightforward way to disseminate important information to tenants. This episode dives deep into what should be displayed on your HMO notice board, focusing on the core compliance documents required to keep your property safe and legal. 

We discuss the importance of including essential certifications like the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and gas safety certificates, serving as reassurance for your tenants regarding health and safety regulations. Beyond that, we explore how an engaging notice board can foster community among tenants by including house rules, emergency contact info, and procedures tailored for communal living. 

Listen as we unfold tips to enhance the aesthetics of your notice board for better tenant engagement, drawing attention to the significance of regular updates to its content. By creating a welcoming and informative space, not only do you comply with necessary regulations, but you also make a significant impact on tenant retention and satisfaction. Take action today and learn how to transform your HMO notice board into an instrumental asset for your property management strategy!

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Speaker 1:

What should you display on your HMO notice boards?

Speaker 1:

Let's find out. Hello and welcome to the Property Unleashed. It's great to have you joining me here today. So a question I get asked a lot for people who are starting out using the HMO strategy is what do I need to make sure that my HMO is compliant when tenants are moving in? So there's quite a few different things that you need when your tenants are moving in and things, but there are certain things as well that you need to make sure that you have displayed in the property really at all times. So that's what we're going to cover today and we're going to go through notice boards. So it's not the most exciting topic in the world, but the way that we do or I do notice boards whilst being compliant and having everything on there is a little bit different, I think, than everybody else.

Speaker 1:

Some people will have their own way of doing these and some people will just do the bog standard notice boards that you'll see Now, whether you're out there trying to buy HMOs or you're looking to convert properties into HMOs, or, of course, you're using a lovely strategy called rent-to-rent, where you acquire other people's HMO properties and and, of course, you rent them out as if they're your own, paying a guaranteed rent. You will need to make sure that your properties are compliant and set up in the right manners. So what you will first of all see if you're walking around an already set up HMO or you should do is you will probably see a big, grey, grotty notice board more often than not in the property. Now these notice boards normally stand out a mile wide because they are not loved. There is no real thought or preparation that goes into these. It's just basically documentation that's been stuck on a notice board. Happy days.

Speaker 1:

Now, if the property is managed to an adequate standard and I say an adequate standard it means that the information that is on the notice board is up to date then that's great Below average. It won't be. So you may walk through there. You may see certain certificates, certain things that are out of date, which all of a sudden then can make evicting tenants or the management of tenants and everything very, very tricky. These notice boards need to be loved. They need to be looked at on a regular basis to make sure that the relevant information is on the notice boards regular basis to make sure that the relevant information is on the notice boards. It's also, if you think about it, a communal sort of space where you can notify tenants of things or you can keep them up to date with certain things that are happening as well. Now we don't predominantly use those big gray or blue notice boards that you probably see in canteen areas, in businesses and factories and all of those. We tend to use picture frames for our notice board and we have it all in the same area. So it's normally in, you know, communal area, a hallway, something like that. But we just find that it looks a lot nicer than having one of these industrial type notice boards that can make the whole property feel a little bit commercial, a little bit, you know, not homely is the sort of phrase that I'm looking for at the moment.

Speaker 1:

So what should you have on your notice board to make sure that you are compliant and make sure you're up to the rules and regulations that we have to have? So at bare minimum, your notice board should have an up-to-date EPC of the property, the certificate that you get that tells us what it is. It should have an up-to-date gas certificate. So the boiler if it has a boiler in that property that has been tested. It has been proven that it is up to the standard and it's had its gas safety certificate issued, that should be on there. And it should be obviously, as I said then, up to date. Those have to be renewed every year. You should also have the current HMO license displayed on there. And a thing that we do like to have is the electrical certificate. We put that on there as well. Now, there's no mandatory rule unless your council say there is to have the electrical certificate on there. Well, now, there's no mandatory rule unless your council say there is to have the electrical certificate on there. But it is something that we need to make sure that the tenants have a copy of. So they might have had that when they moved in in their tenants pack, but we like to have that on there as well.

Speaker 1:

And we also like to make sure that our fire alarm logbook is associated, or is, with the notice board. Now, the fire alarm logbook is to prove that the system is being tested on a regular basis. Now, that doesn't necessarily have to be you that's running around doing it, but if you have cleaners going in cleaning the communal areas, they can test the fire alarm system. Now, sometimes it'll be just a case of flicking the fire alarm itself switch. They have a little button on there. You press and hold it for a few seconds and it sets off all the alarms and they all chirp and beep at you and then you can basically say is any batteries running low or batteries that are backup? So they chirp in at you. If it's not, they can sign the logbook to say all is good.

Speaker 1:

In bigger HMOs or in some certain areas, you will have to have a control panel for the fire alarm. So what I would recommend there is you have a full instruction by the side of your panel so that it can be tested by somebody who has been trained to test it and that could, again I say, be a cleaner that can do that. But it is always logged so that everything is checked. Why? Because we want to make sure we're compliant. We want to make sure that we're up to standards. Realistically, a fire alarm check should happen each and every week in an HMO property and if you've got that documented, then of course, if anything does happen and go wrong, then at least you have that documentation in place. You would like to have a copy of that as well. So we have a logbook which they can obviously fill in who's done the check, what's the date, what's the time and we get them to take a screenshot of that as well and put it in our WhatsApp group so that we have a digital record of it, just in case that logbook goes missing.

Speaker 1:

So that's what, predominantly, you will need to have on your notice board, but you might also want to put on there some house rules. Now, we would give a copy of the house rules to the tenant and have them sign it and, hopefully, read it. Obviously, we can't force people to read it, but we encourage them to read it to make sure that they know the code of conduct of the property. Why? Because this makes it a lot nicer for everybody living there. Okay, now, on your notice board, you do want to have contact numbers and things, but if you're thinking or looking at your house rules, something to consider is, you know, making sure that they understand that we really do want them to live in a happy house and in order to achieve, you know, happiness and a good vibe in there, we like them to consider the following so you should always consider your housemates. Treat everybody as you would like to be treated yourself If you have an issue with another housemate, address it immediately in a calm manner, instead of allowing issues to escalate, and that's what can happen. People let things bottle up. Sometimes it could just be a nice discussion.

Speaker 1:

Don't leave your personal belongings in communal areas unless agreed by everybody else, so that we don't upset anybody. Obviously, it's a safe environment. You shouldn't expect anything to go missing, but equally to that, if somebody has a load of their stuff hanging around, that is not ideal. Make sure that you dispose or take away all cartons, containers, everything that you've been using inside the kitchen, using the appropriate bins, of course. If you leave anything lying around or put something into a bin that could be really, really smelly over the long term or over the term that it hasn't been cleared by the cleaners, then maybe bag it up and stick it in the outside bins. Don't use something that isn't yours unless or express permission by the owner has been given.

Speaker 1:

Figure out a rotor for buying disposable items, such as kitchen roll bin bags, washing liquid. Now we supply bin bags in all of our properties. We have cleaning products in the properties as well. We have a mop, we have a hoover and things like that, but of course, sometimes people like to have their own and of course we do have a rotary system that we put out there in some of our properties for the bins to be put out. So it is somebody's responsibility and it could potentially be a little fine if it's not done. Actually think is better over the long term is to actually just ask or find one of the tenants that you can maybe give them a little reduction in their rent if they make sure that the bins on these dates and we give them the dates and everything are just put out and pulled back in and any problems they notify us. We find that works best. That somebody you know maybe take a five pound off a week or something like that, a 20 pound a month and let them do the bins for you is worth its weight in gold.

Speaker 1:

Obviously you want to make sure that nobody's going to flush anything down the toilets that they shouldn't do and that is something that sometimes needs to be spelt out to people, because not everybody is as clued in as everybody else and you get some of these wet wipes and things that are put down there and of course if people are going to be doing that, particularly if it's in their own en suite. They're bang to rights on it, then obviously we will charge them for anything that needs to be removed. If you're moving around the house easy for me to say at night, we want to make sure that you're courteous to other people and, of course, if you want to play music, play your games and things. Don't be shouting. Make sure you've got headphones and stuff. Remember, this is a multi-let property. This is co-living, so whilst we want people to enjoy their stay here, we also do want to set out some ground rules and things. Equally to that.

Speaker 1:

If you feel that something has really really upset you, take a deep breath, consider that you may just be having a bad day and it might not actually be as bad as you think, and always have patience there. But if you have any major problems with any of your other tenants, then do reach out to us and we'll see what we can do to help the situation. On top of that, you want to have an emergency Now. On top of that, you want to have an emergency Now. You me, my mum, my wife we know what an emergency is, but tenants don't always know what is actually an emergency and what isn't, and I have actually heard a story of a tenant ringing a landlord up, saying I wanted to ring you because the kitchen's on fire, and the landlord was like, oh my God, it's the fire brigade coming. I don't know Well, why don't you know Well, because I just thought I'd ring you and they rang this landlord up before ringing the fire brigade and the kitchen was on fire. It was actually a pan that was on fire. So they were like, well, hang up and call the fire brigade.

Speaker 1:

So sometimes you need to spell these things out, make it really really simple for everybody. So we always like to say you know, a major emergency is a gas leak, which is, in turn, make sure that the gas is turned off or open the doors, windows and get out of the house. Any electrical issues obviously, if something's sparking or smoking or smelling, make sure that you turn that socket or what off, but let us know about it. A water emergencies turn off the water if it is leaking in any way, shape or form. Backed, backed up sewage lines that is another one that we want to make sure that we're getting tapped into and sorting out straight away. Leaky roofs is another one that can, of course, really escalate and get out of hand quite quickly.

Speaker 1:

Fires we actually do state that if there is a fire, call 999. We don't particularly want our tenants fighting fires. Get out of the way. Let the professionals come and do their job and make sure everybody's safe. And, of course, carbon monoxide detection if that's beeping again, get out of the property the same as you would with the gas and call the emergency services.

Speaker 1:

So that's what we're really trying to say is an emergency and we also say what isn't a major emergency. And, of course, hot water that's off for a short period of time isn't a major emergency. Ok, something that we need to be notified of so we can proactively get that sorted. But it's not something where they need to be calling us at one o'clock in the morning over. They want to just be leaving a message a toilet blockage or something like that or something to do with the drains. That isn't quite filtering through the way it should do. It's a major emergency. Again, it's something that we need to know about and we make sure that they understand that.

Speaker 1:

Noise complaints or security issues Now, if it's a security issue somebody's trying to break into the property or something like that it's cool at 999. There's no point in calling us, call 999 as if you were living in the property yourself. Any parking issues again, it's not a major emergency but it is something that we'll have a look at, particularly if you've got a designated space and, of course, minor leaks that can be handled in the morning. Ie, if you've got a valve in your room and on radiator and it's starting to drip slightly, just stick a cloth or something like that underneath and let us know. We've had actually tenants ring us up or try to ring us up, ringing up the team because I have a maintenance team that does this for me at one o'clock in the morning to say that the batteries in the clock in the kitchen had ran out. That is, again, not a major emergency and, of course, you do not want to be taking calls like that. That's why we put this into place to show people this.

Speaker 1:

And on that caveat of showing people, things are when you take a property, on whether you're owning it or doing a rent-to-rent you want to know where the gas stop valve is so you can turn off the gas, if need be, where your water supply mains are as well, so you can turn those the gas, if need be, where your water supply mains are as well, so you can turn those off. Normally in the kitchen under one of the cupboards, your fuse box for the electricity. And what we do is when we go in there we take a picture of these so the gas stopcock, the water stopcock and the electric fuse box and then we put down exactly where they are located in the property and we put this on a notice board Because sometimes a house can trip. Okay, the electrics can just trip out. Maybe it's a power surge, maybe it's something you know somebody's just plugged something dodgy in or something like that. It can just trip. Now we don't want people to start rooting around things, but if it just means that they've got to flick a switch up, just tell us whether it's tricked out again straight away or not. It's handy to be able to talk people through that, for them to be able to see where that is.

Speaker 1:

Obviously, if there's a gas leak and they can get to that valve, most of those are normally outside of the property. So, as long as they know that they can get out, maybe turn the gas off and wait for the relevant people to go out there and help them. And, of course, water if something's leaking or really gone bad, a burst pipe or something. Then again they can know where the stopcock is, they can go and turn that off and then of course we can come out and sort all of that out and of course it limits then the damage to the property. So make sure that you have that on there as well.

Speaker 1:

And also one of the most important things that maybe I should have spoken about right at the beginning is Wi-Fi. You want to make sure on your notice board that you have the Wi-Fi passwords where the router is or router is, so that people can obviously go and have a look at that reset if need be. But that is very, very important and any emergency numbers that you'll have on there. So we have a 24-7 emergency number that's on there. We also obviously put in if you need the first services response for fire, for medical assistance or anything like that. It's 999. And of course, everything else we can solve and sort out from our emergency number as well, which is a team that take the call and of course, if it was a major emergency, they might do it on behalf of the tenants to help them out.

Speaker 1:

So your notice board is a place where you really want to have certain things on that notice board that make life easier for you, because the more that you can put to have certain things on that notice board that make life easier for you, because the more that you can put there that makes sense, that's in a very easy to digest manner the easier your life will be when it comes to asking potentially I'm not going to say silly questions, because I don't always think that any question is a silly question. But answering the same old questions time and time again, let's reduce that and let's put that out there. I make sure that all the documentation apart from the FHIR logbook is also in the tenant's pack when they sign their AST so that they have a copy for themselves and they also have the notice board there. We also on onboarding, we'll take them to the notice boards, we'll show them through them. The same for the heating controls. We have normally a picture frame with how to operate the heating controls by the side of it. The same if we have any fire panels, so that really when somebody's wandering around there's pictures, it looks quite nice. You know they're obviously not beautiful pictures of scenery or anything, but they are information that can be of use to the tenants, and you can do the same in the kitchen as well. What we tend to have in the kitchen is a folder which explains how the washing machine works, how the ovens work, and making it as simple as you can for everybody out there.

Speaker 1:

As I said, this isn't the most exciting topic, but it is something that you really want to make sure that you get right from the word go.

Speaker 1:

I obviously share all of my tools, all of my templates, all of my resources in my rent to rent training, so that if you you know, if you were doing something like that and you were setting a property up, you would basically copy and paste all of the templates and all you would do is just update the locations of different things, the phone numbers that you want people to use and, of course, your wi-fi passwords and things.

Speaker 1:

And that is why we make sure that, if anybody does any of our trainings, that we give you the full blueprint, all the tools, everything, all the details of everything as well, to make sure that you get the results that you want. So I hope this episode has helped you. As always, it's been an absolute joy to bring this to you. We do offer training in the Rent2Rent Business Builder and, of course, the Ultimate Service Accommodation Business Builder as well, one's for HMOs, one's for Service Accommodation. I have a bespoken service where I offer one-to-one mentoring and coaching to really help you grow and build your property business to great success. So do check out thepropertyunleashedcom if you're interested in any of those, or reach out to me on social media and we can always have a friendly chat and see how we can help you. So until the next episode, take care and bye for now.