Why the property type matters
A single let has one tenancy at a time. An HMO does not, and software that assumes one tenancy per property forces you into a choice between a fake single tenancy and one property record per room. Both make the certificates wrong.
Marking the property as an HMO keeps the building as one record and the people as many.
What you get
- Rooms with their own labels and a default monthly rent each
- Several active tenancies against the same property, starting and ending on their own dates
- Certificates held once, at the building, rather than copied per room
Room-level fire safety
HMO fire safety is tracked separately from the general compliance items, because the duties are different and a single score would hide them.
Name rooms consistently when you create them. "Room 2" and "room 2 " are two different rooms to a database, and the second one will quietly take half your rent forecast with it.