CONCERNS have been raised over the steps taken to establish whether relationships are legitimate when Glasgow homes are rented out.

The law requires any landlord letting a property to three or more people, who are not related, to obtain a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence.

But, under the law, a landlord does not require a licence if tenants are a couple, which is defined as “married or are civil partners, or live together as husband and wife or, where they are of the same sex, in an equivalent relationship”.

Some properties are cheaper to rent when more tenants move in.

Councillors on the city’s licensing committee questioned whether couples living together would choose to sleep in separate rooms.

The issue was raised after it was revealed landlord Amarjit Singh was renting a four bedroom property to two couples, who used all four rooms.

He was granted new HMO licences for two four-bed properties on Cranworth Street, which were both being occupied by two couples when the council carried out an inspection.

His application came just one week after Suakjasvinder Singh was warned for operating a property as a HMO without a licence, despite his representative saying the tenants had claimed they were a couple.

Amarjit Singh’s letting agent said “thorough” checks were carried out to check the tenants were in a relationship, with background information requested.

But she added: “I’m not sure how to prove they’re living in a relationship.”

Asked if a couple “equal to marriage” would be sleeping separately, she said: “To what extent can you say you’re not sleeping in the same bed, you’re not a couple?”

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Councillor Rhiannon Spear said: “I’m really concerned about any kind of letting agent using relationships in this way.”

She said she would expect any agent to take “reasonable steps” to ascertain a relationship is up to the standard required by law.

In one of the properties, a lounge had been converted into a bedroom to provide four rooms.

Councillor Elspeth Kerr asked if there was a difference in price. The representative for Amarjit Singh suggested it was around £1700 for four people, compared to £1500 for three.

A council officer said it was the landlord’s responsibility to check a relationship was legitimate but the council could explore the issue if they had any doubts.

“If there’s evidence of a second person in any room that would be a breach,” she said.

Laws governing HMOs were introduced in 2000 after two young men died in a flat fire on Melrose Street in the Woodlands area of the city.

After receiving a HMO licence application, the council’s HMO unit and Scottish Fire and Rescue

Service will jointly inspect a property.

When Suakjasvinder Singh’s application for his West Princes Street flat went before the committee last week, his representative said there had been three girls in the property, with two saying they were in a relationship.

“We can’t say to people, ‘sorry you’re lying to us, you’re not a couple’,” she added.

She said there’s a lot of same-sex couples and parents, who often pay the rent, don’t know they’re gay.

Councillor Spear said she was “extremely concerned” by the incident.