Blog Post

Buying an HMO at auction

Publish Date: 16 March 2023

By Jade Shrubsole

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Further reading

Leaning tower of Rotherhithe is going up for auction!

Are we at the peak of the base rate rise?

Buying HMOs at auction.

HMO - a house of multiple occupancy, or as often referred to as a ‘house share’. Buying an HMO is considered a specialised investment with a little more effort needed, but the investment paying off.

First off, when considering purchasing an HMO property, you need to consider a property in an area that is sought after by HMO renters. Ideally somewhere that has a lot of students or young professionals.

HMO’s have social and monetary benefits that young professionals and students look for, often offering a cheaper living option as well as the social aspect.

For landlords, they need to consider what’s required for HMO properties in the local area. Every large HMO in England must be licensed with the local council and requirements do vary from council to council. There are specific legislative requirements for HMO properties, so they need to ensure they’ll be able to bring the property up to the right standard within budget. HMO properties are usually bigger than traditional buy to let properties, so upfront costs can be higher. However, as these properties have multiple tenants you can often see higher yields.

We recently covered the comparison of yields, including HMO’s in our Q1 PAD Report which can be viewed here.

To run a search on our website to search upcoming HMO properties, click the detailed search option and within the residential property type select ‘Multiple Occupancy’.

Auctions can be a great way to buy HMO properties. But as always make sure you have undertaken your due diligence thoroughly.