In the high-stakes world of UK property investment, it often feels like a defensive game against a relentless tide of regulation and taxation. But what happens when the players change the rules? The recent, landmark victory against the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) disastrous policy of charging council tax “by the room” for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) is more than just a win; it’s a seismic shift in the landlord-regulator relationship. This was not a concession han

The Great HMO Council Tax Shake-Up: A Landlord's Guide to the 2025 Consultation For the past decade, a silent crisis has been eroding the viability of quality HMO investments across the UK. The culprit? A practice known as council tax disaggregation —a technical term with devastating financial consequences. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has been treating individual en-suite rooms within Houses in Multiple Occupation as separate dwellings for council tax purposes, transfor