HMO Properties Have a Purpose, but They Need to Be Well Run

September 28, 2026

HMO properties have been part of the UK housing market for decades, and after more than 34 years developing and managing them, we have seen first-hand why they continue to serve an important purpose.

Budgets change. Regulation changes. Governments change. The Renters’ Rights Act has changed the operating environment again. None of that removes the underlying reason HMOs exist in the first place: a large number of people need good-quality, flexible and affordable accommodation without renting an entire house or flat on their own.

That demand is not going away.

What does need to disappear from the sector is poor management, inadequate accommodation and landlords who view tenants as nothing more than a monthly rent payment. We strongly support higher standards across the HMO sector because professionally operated shared housing and badly managed shared housing are two completely different things.

HMOs are an important part of the housing market

There is sometimes a tendency to talk about HMO properties as though they are a recent phenomenon, or as though shared housing suddenly appeared because of changes in migration, asylum accommodation or government housing contracts.

That is completely false.

Professional HMOs have existed for many years because they solve a very straightforward housing need. Not everybody wants, needs or can justify renting an entire property. Somebody relocating for work may only need a room. A contractor working on a major local project may need somewhere for six months. A young professional may prefer a modern ensuite room with bills included rather than taking responsibility for an entire flat. Somebody moving to South Yorkshire for a new job may want flexibility while they learn the area.

These are ordinary housing requirements, and we have been providing accommodation for people like this for more than three decades.

At Foot Forward Property Investments, our focus has always been professional tenants. We do not operate social housing HMOs. We do not develop temporary accommodation for government contracts. We do not build HMOs around asylum accommodation or similar schemes.

Our business has been built around developing high-quality shared homes for working people in Doncaster and across South Yorkshire.

The people living in our HMOs are part of the local economy

Over the years, we have housed people from almost every walk of working life.

That includes NHS staff, council workers, police officers, logistics workers, tradespeople and contractors working on major projects. We have housed overseas professionals who have moved into the area for employment, rugby teams needing accommodation, people relocating within the UK and employees working across South Yorkshire’s manufacturing, distribution and infrastructure sectors.

That is what professional shared housing actually looks like.

These people still need somewhere good to live. Many do not want to buy a house immediately. Others do not want the cost or commitment of renting an entire property. Some are working away from home. Others are building their careers and want good accommodation in a convenient location without being tied to a larger property than they need.

A properly developed HMO gives them another option.

We have proudly housed local people and people coming into the region for work for more than 34 years, and we make no apology for believing that well-run HMOs are a positive part of the housing market.

Poorly run HMOs deserve criticism

Where we agree strongly with many critics of the HMO sector is on rogue landlords.

There should be no place in the market for overcrowded houses, neglected properties, poor maintenance, questionable conversions or landlords who have no interest in the people actually living inside their properties.

Tenants deserve safe, clean and properly maintained homes.

HMO investment should never simply mean buying the cheapest house available, cramming bedrooms into every possible corner and collecting as much rent as possible. That mentality damages tenants, neighbours, local areas and the reputation of responsible HMO operators.

Our approach is almost the complete opposite.

Every HMO investment we develop goes through a substantial back-to-brick refurbishment. We build properties around proper bedroom sizes, ensuite facilities, usable communal areas, kitchens, fire safety, electrical standards, heating, insulation, sound reduction and the everyday practical requirements of the people who will actually live there.

We are developing homes, not spreadsheets.

A good HMO should fit into the street

One of the most important parts of HMO development happens before refurbishment even begins.

We do not simply find a cheap house somewhere in the North of England, produce an attractive spreadsheet and hope tenants turn up afterwards. We have operated across Doncaster and wider South Yorkshire for decades, and location selection forms a major part of our development process.

We consider the street. We consider parking. We consider surrounding housing. We consider employment demand, transport, gardens, property size, room layouts and whether the finished HMO will integrate appropriately into the surrounding area.

That last part is often ignored.

A professionally managed HMO should not become a nuisance to everybody living around it. Our in-house management team carries out regular inspections, manages tenant issues, organises maintenance, oversees compliance and keeps a close eye on the condition of the property.

In many cases, somebody living a few doors away would have very little reason to know that one of our properties is an HMO.

In fact, after we have completed a full back-to-brick refurbishment, the finished HMO will frequently be one of the best maintained properties on the street. It has undergone substantial investment, it has to comply with strict HMO requirements, it is inspected regularly and it continues to be professionally managed after the development has finished.

That is responsible HMO development.

Investors need to understand this too

This is not only an important message for landlords and operators. It is just as important for investors.

One of the biggest mistakes we see is investors becoming fixated on the cheapest possible purchase price. They find a low-cost property in a weak area, look at the headline numbers and assume they have found an attractive investment simply because the initial capital requirement is lower.

Cheap property is usually cheap for a reason.

Weak tenant demand, poor local employment, oversupply of rooms, low rental ceilings, poor-quality housing stock and weak resale demand can all turn what looked like a bargain into a long-term headache. A cheap HMO that struggles with voids, difficult management, constant maintenance and limited capital growth can become considerably more expensive than buying the right property in the first place.

Investors should be thinking about where people actually want to live and work, how sustainable the tenant demand is and who will be responsible for managing the property once the development is complete.

That is why we believe investors are far better served by working with an established HMO developer and management company rather than chasing the lowest-priced opportunity they can find.

At Foot Forward Property Investments, we have over 34 years of experience developing and managing HMO properties. We do not simply source a property, collect a fee and disappear. Our team handles the process from acquisition and planning through substantial back-to-brick refurbishment, licensing, compliance, tenant finding, management, inspections, maintenance and the day-to-day running of the finished property.

We only manage the HMOs we develop ourselves. That gives us accountability from the initial property selection through to the ongoing management years later.

For an investor, that matters enormously. The quality of an HMO investment is not determined by how cheap the house was on day one. It is determined by whether the property is in the right area, has been developed properly, attracts the right tenants and continues to operate effectively over the long term.

Regulation does not frighten responsible operators

The Renters’ Rights Act has caused plenty of discussion across the property market, as have successive Budgets and changes affecting landlords. For operators who were already taking compliance, tenant welfare and property management seriously, the principle behind stronger standards should not be controversial.

A professional HMO business should already have systems in place.

We have our own lettings and management operation. Our team handles tenant finding, rent collection, inspections, maintenance, licensing, compliance and the day-to-day running of the properties we develop. We only manage the HMOs we develop ourselves because that gives us control over the standard of the building from day one.

We know how it was refurbished because our teams developed it. We know how it should be maintained because we specified the work. We know the local market because we have operated here for decades.

That level of accountability matters far more now than it did when the HMO market was less regulated.

HMO investment carries a responsibility

There is a tendency within property investment marketing to reduce everything to yield.

Yield matters. Of course it does. Investors are investing capital because they expect a return.

However, the return only exists because somebody is paying rent to live in the property.

We believe a successful HMO should work for both sides. The investor receives a professionally developed and managed income-producing property, while the tenant receives a safe, modern and properly maintained place to live.

Those two things should not be in conflict.

We have developed more than 450 HMO properties during our time in the sector, and the principle behind them has remained fairly simple. Build them properly. Put them in the right locations. Manage them properly. Look after the tenants. Maintain the property. Do not allow standards to slip simply because the development stage is finished.

HMOs are not the problem. Bad HMOs are.

The current conversation around HMOs sometimes groups every form of shared accommodation together, and that creates a completely distorted picture of the sector.

A six-bedroom professional HMO occupied by NHS workers, logistics employees, contractors and other working tenants is not the same product as temporary accommodation procured under a government contract. Neither should responsible professional landlords be grouped automatically with operators who neglect their tenants or properties.

The term HMO describes a form of housing. It does not tell you who lives there, why they live there or how well the property is managed.

There will always be poor operators in property, just as there are poor operators in almost every industry. They should be challenged, regulated and removed where appropriate.

But high-quality HMO properties still serve a very real housing requirement.

After more than 34 years developing and managing HMOs across Doncaster and South Yorkshire, we have watched thousands of tenants use shared housing as exactly what it is supposed to be: good-quality accommodation that gives people flexibility, affordability and somewhere they are happy to call home.

For investors, the same principle applies. Do not choose an HMO simply because it is cheap. Choose the right property, in the right area, developed to the right standard and managed by people who will still be there after completion.

That is the part of the HMO sector we are proud to represent.