Housing Act 2004

258 HMOs: persons not forming a single household E+W

(1) This section sets out when persons are to be regarded as not forming a single household for the purposes of section 254.

(2) Persons are to be regarded as not forming a single household unless—

(a) they are all members of the same family, or

(b) their circumstances are circumstances of a description specified for the purposes of this section in regulations made by the appropriate national authority.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) a person is a member of the same family as another person if—

(a) those persons are married to [F1 , or civil partners of, each other or live together as if they were a married couple or civil partners];

(b) one of them is a relative of the other; or

(c) one of them is, or is a relative of, one member of a couple and the other is a relative of the other member of the couple.

(4) For those purposes—

(a) a “couple” means two persons who F2 ... fall within subsection (3)(a);

(b) “relative” means parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or cousin;

(c) a relationship of the half-blood shall be treated as a relationship of the whole blood; and

(d) the stepchild of a person shall be treated as his child.

(5) Regulations under subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, secure that a group of persons are to be regarded as forming a single household only where (as the regulations may require) each member of the group has a prescribed relationship, or at least one of a number of prescribed relationships, to any one or more of the others.

(6) In subsection (5) “prescribed relationship” means any relationship of a description specified in the regulations.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 258(3)(a) substituted (2.12.2019) by The Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1458), reg. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 26(4)(a)

F2 Words in s. 258(4)(a) omitted (2.12.2019) by virtue of The Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1458), reg. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 26(4)(b)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 258 wholly in force at 18.1.2005; s. 258 in force for certain purposes at Royal Assent and in force otherwise at 18.1.2005, see s. 270(2)(b)(3)(a)