Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)

Information on Houses in Multiple Occupation and how to apply for a property licence.

What a House in Multiple Occupation is

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a house or flat lived in by people who are not from the same family (including half relatives, common law partners and stepchildren). This is their only home and they pay rent to live there. They may share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet.

When an HMO needs a property licence

Houses that are three or more storeys, let to five or more people, who form two or more households, must be licensed. Storeys include basements, attics and ground floor commercial premises if they form part of the HMO. 

Running an HMO without a property licence is a criminal offence with fines of up to £20,000. The court may also order you to repay rent to a tenant for the time that the property has been without a licence.

How to apply for a property licence

You can apply online using the GOV.UK website.

Apply online - House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) property licence

To do this you will need to use Adobe Reader 8.1 or above.  Download the latest version of Adobe Reader.

Or you can download the application form below, complete it and return it to us with the fee.

 Application for House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence [171kb]

 Guidance on how to apply for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) [87kb]

Property licence fees from 1 April 2013

Babies and children are counted as people for the fee calculation.

Reduction in fees

If you are a member of any of the following landlords' associations, you will be entitled to a reduction in fee of £75:

• Southern Private Landlords' Association (SPLA)
• National Landlords' Association (NLA)
• Any other association affiliated to the National Federation of Residential Landlords (NFRL)

Making changes to your property licence

You can change your property licence details online using the GOV.UK website.

Or you can download the application form below, complete it and return it to us with the fee.

 Application to vary a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence [150kb]

 Guidance on how to vary a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence [1Mb]

The cost of making changes to a licence is £75.

Applying to renew your property licence

If you have an HMO licence that is due to expire you will need to apply to renew it. 

If there has been no material change to the original licence you can use the application form. See our 'How to apply for a property licence' section above for more details. 

 Application to renew a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) [173kb]

 Guidance on how to renew a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence [594kb]

However, if the owner, licence holder, manager or the internal layout, number of occupants or amenities have changed then  you will need to complete a full application which is available above. 

Applying for a licence - what you need to know

The house

To apply for a licence, the house must:

• Be suitable for occupation by the number of people on the application
• Have adequate facilities for the number of people on the application
• Be managed satisfactorily
• Have adequate fireproofing

The licence holder

• The proposed licence holder must be a fit and proper person

What you will need to show us

You will need to show us the following: 

• That appliances and furnishings are safe to use
• A plan of the property
• A landlord's gas safety certificate
• Relevant planning and building control documents
• A current inspection report from a competent electrician
• BS5839 test reports for the fire detection system (if applicable)
• BS5266 test reports for the fire detection system (if applicable)

HMOs that do not need a property licence

Houses that are two storeys or less with no more than five occupants do not need a property licence.

Fire safety in HMOs

A landlord is responsible for the safety of his tenants and must carry out a risk assessment for fire. We expect landlords to provide adequate fire safety measures to protect tenants and these will be different for each house.

Standards in HMOs

All HMOs must have enough bathrooms, toilets and kitchens for the number of people living there. The house must be in good repair and well managed.

We have produced a guide to HMO standards  Standards for Houses in Multiple Occupation [1Mb] to help you.

Find out more about HMO standards, fire safety standards and the law

You can find out more about HMOs and what you need to do to run one in the links to the right of this page.

You can also contact our Private Sector Housing team using the contact details on this page.