Renting a room in an HMO: a tenant's guide

Renting a room in an HMO is how a large proportion of Cardiff residents live, particularly students, young professionals and those new to the city. A shared house typically offers better value per month than a self-contained flat, it provides ready-made company, and it places you close to the city centre at a monthly cost that a single-let property rarely matches. What is less well understood is how differently Welsh law governs this arrangement compared with England. People renting a room in Cardiff are contract-holders under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, with a distinct set of documents, rights and protections that differ materially from those familiar to renters elsewhere in the UK.

This guide covers what to expect when renting a room in a Cardiff HMO, from the paperwork you should receive before you move in through to your rights if something goes wrong. An interactive renter's journey at the end lets you step through the key stages from initial enquiry to move-out. For a broader introduction to renting in Cardiff more generally, including banned fees, shared repair responsibilities and how to end a contract, see our renter's guide to Cardiff.

What makes an HMO different from a standard rented home

A house in multiple occupation, or HMO, is a property shared by three or more people who form more than one household and share at least one basic amenity such as a kitchen or bathroom. In practice this means a shared house where unrelated individuals each have their own bedroom alongside communal areas. Your occupation contract covers your room and your right to use the shared spaces: the kitchen, bathrooms and living areas are shared on the basis that all contract-holders have reasonable access, not exclusive use. Bills are often included in the room rent, which simplifies budgeting, though you should confirm exactly what is covered before signing. The landlord, or their managing agent, must hold a valid Rent Smart Wales licence, and where the HMO meets the relevant thresholds it also requires a separate HMO licence from Cardiff Council. Our HMO licensing guide explains how Cardiff's mandatory and additional licensing schemes work in practice.

Your occupation contract in Wales

The single most important thing to understand before you sign anything is that room rentals in Wales are not governed by the Assured Shorthold Tenancy framework used in England. Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, your agreement is an occupation contract and you are a contract-holder. The rights, the required documents and the notice periods are different in Welsh law, and they are in many respects stronger for contract-holders than those available to renters in England.

A room in a shared house will typically be let on a fixed-term standard contract for an initial period, then continuing on a periodic standard contract rolling month to month. The landlord must provide you with a written statement of the contract within 14 days of your occupation start date. If they do not, the prescribed terms implied automatically by the Act still protect you, but the landlord loses access to certain possession routes until the written statement is delivered. Reviewing your written statement carefully before you move in is always worthwhile. For a clause-by-clause breakdown of what to look for, see our article on occupation contracts in Wales.

Deposits: what your landlord must do

If you pay a deposit, your landlord must protect it in one of the approved tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days of receipt, and must give you written prescribed information about the scheme used. Approved schemes for Wales include the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Deductions at the end of your contract can only be made for legitimate reasons: unpaid rent, damage beyond fair wear and tear, or other losses the occupation contract identifies. Charges for routine repainting, professional cleaning where the room was provided clean, or replacing items that had reached the end of their useful life should be challenged. All three approved schemes offer free dispute resolution through an independent adjudicator, and the Residential Property Tribunal Wales can hear the case if a dispute cannot be resolved that way. Our guide to getting your deposit back in Wales covers the full process.

Your right to a fit, safe home

Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, your landlord must ensure your room and the shared areas are fit for human habitation throughout your contract. This includes keeping the structure and exterior in good repair, maintaining gas, water and electrical installations, and ensuring the property is free from serious hazards. Mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms are required on every storey of the property, and a carbon monoxide alarm is required in every room that contains a gas appliance, an oil-fired combustion appliance or a solid fuel burning appliance. These are statutory requirements for every rented home in Wales under the Renting Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) (Wales) Regulations 2022, not optional extras that apply only to licensed HMOs. Always report any disrepair to your landlord in writing so there is a dated record, and follow up if it is not addressed within a reasonable time. Cardiff Council's private sector housing team can issue improvement notices where a property is found to be unfit or hazardous.

Bills and permitted payments

Permitted payments in Wales are governed by the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019. Before you sign, the only permitted payment is a holding deposit of no more than the equivalent of one week's rent, which must be refunded or credited to your first month's rent unless you withdraw the application or provide false information. At the point of signing you may be asked to pay the first month's rent and a security deposit. During the contract, a landlord may only charge for specific permitted items such as the replacement of a lost key or fob. Administration fees, referencing fees, check-in fees, inventory fees and credit-check charges are not permitted payments and can be reported to Cardiff Council. Before signing, confirm clearly which bills are included in the room rent and get the list in writing.

Ending your room contract

When you want to leave, your notice period depends on whether you are on a fixed-term or a periodic contract. For a periodic standard contract with monthly rent, you normally give four weeks' notice in writing, served on the right day in your rental period to be effective. A fixed-term contract ends automatically on the agreed date; leaving early usually requires the landlord's agreement to surrender the contract.

From the landlord's side, the no-fault route to ending your contract is a section 173 notice under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. This requires a minimum of six months' notice and cannot be served during the first six months of a standard contract. The landlord must also have a current Rent Smart Wales registration and all required documents must have been provided to you. A notice with any deficiency in the landlord's compliance position is likely to be invalid. Our article on eviction and possession in Wales covers the different grounds and notice periods in full.

For information about Rent Smart Wales and how to verify that your landlord is registered and licensed, refer to Rent Smart Wales directly. The Welsh Government's renting homes guidance provides comprehensive information on your rights under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.