The licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) was introduced in The Housing Act 2004 to make sure that:
- landlords of HMOs are fit and proper people, or employ managers who are
- each HMO is suitable for occupation by the number of people allowed under the licence
- the standard of management of the HMO is adequate
- high risk HMOs can be identified and targeted for improvement
Where landlords refuse to meet these criteria we can intervene and manage the property so that vulnerable tenants can be protected.
Licensing is mandatory for all HMOs that have three or more storeys and are occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households.
More information
The Communities and Local Government website has published a guide to licensing HMOs. This includes information on:
- the definition of an HMO
- licensing of HMOs
- temporary exemption notices
- enforcement
- management orders
- other laws applying to HMOs
- details on appeals to a Residential Property Tribunal
Licence fee
Landlords will have to pay a fee to cover the administration costs of the licence procedure.
HMO licence
fee: £570
A 50% discount applies to landlords who are members of our Landlord Accreditation Scheme. Please contact
us for further details of this scheme.
Apply for a licence
To apply to us for a licence please download and complete our HMO licence application form.