V. interesting post.
However, I thought that an AST had to be 6 months minimum, so not sure where you stand if one party leaves?
Also, from April 2005 the government are requiring all HMOs to be licensed...
This will require many conditions to be met.
Raise the rents... How are you going to meet all the safety conditions for fire and safety,etc with all 8 houses and deal with all the separate ASTs?
We just converted a house into an HMO at considerable expense (meeting all guidelines) and the viewings/paperwork is a lot for us to handle and we only live down the road.