Petitions on Family Homes and Landlord Tax

A petition calling for a ban on converting family homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) is gathering momentum in Parliament.

Launched in September, the petition has already collected 177 signatures.

The protesters want the government to bring in new laws in England to stop landlords and developers from buying the dwindling stock of family properties.

"We think that there is already a dearth of family homes for low-income working families, & by converting them into HMOs, the situation is being made worse," says campaign leader Debrosh Kay Llewellyn.

"We feel that rents for ordinary families are sky high, so converting houses into HMOs can create very difficult situations. I call on the government to help hard-working, low-income people."

Stop taxing landlords: Budget plea

Meanwhile, property expert Vincent Lai is calling for Chancellor Rachel Reeve not to burden landlords with more taxes in her forthcoming Budget on November 26.

Launching the petition, Lai said:

"We urge the government to formally commit to not imposing tax increases or additional taxes on landlords to help protect current rental markets and tenants.

"We believe rental properties are essential. We are concerned there was a drop in the number of rental properties in the first quarter of 2025. This supply shortage can lead to rental increases for residential properties. It was estimated that 42 per cent of household income in London was spent on rent in 2024.

"We believe additional tax on Landlords will lead to the burden being passed on to the tenants. We believe it will lead to further increases in inflation and may lead to increases in homelessness."

Open landlord petitions in Parliament

• Create and fund third-party regulator scheme for service charge disputes 1,831 signatures
• Revoke the Selective Licensing of Houses (Additional Conditions) Order 2015 993 signatures
• Ban family houses from being converted into houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) 177 signatures
• Improve regulation of letting agents including new statutory regulator 155 signatures
• Make it a criminal offence to enter a domestic dwelling without permission 142 signatures
• Commit to not increasing taxes or imposing additional taxes on landlords 141 signatures
• Introduce a new secondary property tax 94 signatures
• Impose rent caps in major cities to stop rent hikes by landlords 75 signatures
• Introduce increased regulation of letting agents 60 signatures
• Allow letting agents to access tenants' criminal records before accepting 56 signatures
• Ban credit checks and requiring tenant income to be 30x monthly rent 46 signatures
• Abolish Section 21 'no-fault' evictions with immediate effect 45 signatures
• Reform tax rules so rental income is taxed on profit, not revenue 36 signatures
• Ban insured deposit protection schemes 35 signatures
• Exempt properties rented by three unrelated people from HMO rules 25 signatures
• Legislate to allow landlords to sell properties directly to government 21 signatures

Parliament keeps petitions open for six months.

Those collecting 10,000 signatures will receive a formal government response, while petitions grabbing more than 10,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament.