Targeting Nondomestic Violence Inside Houses of Multi-Occupancy

Abstract

The issue of indoor, nondomestic violence has been largely ignored in research on hot spots of crime. One prime example in the United Kingdom is a growth of both licensed and unlicensed Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). These dwellings feature high densities of unrelated adults sharing bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom space. No previous evidence shows whether HMOs have an elevated risk of nondomestic violent crime, but police experience suggests it. The present study used a list of all 47 registered HMOs and all 117 suspected (but unlicensed) HMOs to examine the distribution of 94 nondomestic violent offenses occurring in all 4,401 dwellings in a Berkshire town close to London over calendar year 2013. Eighty-four percent of those indwelling violent offenses occurred in the licensed or suspected HMOs, which constituted 0.4% of all dwellings. The combined HMO rate of 48 violent crimes per 100 dwellings was 137 times higher than the 15 crimes in 4,237 non-HMO dwellings (non-HMO rate of 0.35 crimes per 100 dwellings). Virtually, all of that violence was concentrated in the 117 unlicensed HMOs, which had 78 violent crimes (67 per 100 dwellings), a rate 191 times higher than the non-HMO dwelling rate and 32 times higher than the rate of 1 violent crime in 47 licensed HMOs (2.1 per 100 dwellings). Suspected but unlicensed HMOs may be a prime target for violence prevention through multiagency full enforcement.