HMO licensing
The council operates both Mandatory and Additional HMO licensing schemes borough-wide.
The licence you'll need to get depends on the number of people sharing the property. These are:
- mandatory HMO licensing for HMOs where 5 or more people from 2 or more households share facilities
- additional HMO licensing for HMOs where 3 or 4 people from 2 or more households share facilities
This means that all HMOs within the borough are required to be licensed by the Council.
Some properties are exempt from HMO licensing. HMOs owned or substantially controlled by Registered Social Providers are not required to hold an HMO licence.
Where an HMO operates without a licence, the landlord, managing agent and/or any other person who profits from the HMO commits an offence.
The council can issue a Civil Penalty Notice of up to £40,000 for failure to licence an HMO on each person committing the offence.
Find out how to check or report an unlicensed HMO
Requirements for an HMO licence
The requirements for licensing an HMO are set out in the Housing Act 2004.
Before we can issue a licence, we must consider whether:
- the landlord or managing agent is a fit and proper person
- the property is suitable to be used as an HMO
- suitable arrangements are in place to manage the property
Fit and proper person
When deciding whether someone is a fit and proper person, we consider whether they:
- have relevant unspent convictions for offences such as fraud, dishonesty, violence, drugs or sexual offences
- have broken housing or landlord and tenant law
- have failed to comply with previous licensing conditions
- have been involved in illegal eviction or harassment
- have unlawfully discriminated against someone because of a protected characteristic
- have broken other laws relating to housing, public health or safety
Whether the property is suitable
We also consider whether the property meets the standards required for an HMO.
This includes:
- minimum room sizes
- facilities and amenities
- fire and other safety requirements
- local and national property standards
- whether the landlord or managing agent can properly manage the property
If a property does not meet a particular requirement, we can place conditions on the licence. For example, we may prevent an undersized room from being used as a bedroom.
Where the legal requirements are met, we are generally required to issue an HMO licence.
What an HMO licence requires
Landlords and managing agents must comply with the conditions of their HMO licence.
Our licence conditions include requirements relating to:
- the condition and safety of the property
- antisocial behaviour by tenants
- waste
- pests, including rats and mice
Failure to comply with a licence condition may result in enforcement action.
How we enforce HMO licence conditions
Different council teams and other organisations investigate different types of problems associated with HMOs.
For example:
- noise and statutory nuisances are investigated by the Community Protection Team
- antisocial behaviour is investigated by the Community Safety Unit
- pest problems are investigated by the Environmental Protection Team
- problems with bins are investigated by Waste Services
- planning breaches are investigated by the Planning Enforcement Team
- fly-tipping is investigated by Enviro-Crime
- crime and disorder can be investigated by the police
- fire safety issues can be investigated by the London Fire Brigade
Where a problem is reported, the relevant service will usually investigate it first and gather evidence.
Where possible, action will be taken against the person responsible for the problem.
If the problem relates to the property or its management, the evidence may also be used by the Private Housing Team to investigate whether the landlord or managing agent has breached the conditions of the HMO licence.
Depending on the circumstances, we may issue a financial penalty or prosecute.