HMO licence: what renters need to know

What counts as an HMO?

Broadly, a home is an HMO when at least three people live there as their main home, they form more than one household, at least one of them pays rent, and they share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. A household is a single person, a couple, or members of the same family, which includes parents, children, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins. So three friends sharing a house are three households; a couple and their lodger are two. Full-time students count as living there as their main home, so a student house can be an HMO.

The law sets out several tests, and a home that meets any one of them is an HMO:

• The standard test: a house or flat shared by people from more than one household who share, or lack, a basic amenity such as a kitchen, bathroom or toilet.
• The self-contained flat test: the same test applied to a single flat.
• The converted building test: a building converted into bedsits or rooms that are not self-contained flats.
• A council can also declare a building an HMO, and some blocks converted into flats before building regulations applied are HMOs too.

When does an HMO need a licence?

Everywhere in England, an HMO needs a mandatory licence if five or more people live there, forming two or more households, and they share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. It doesn’t matter how many storeys the house has. Smaller HMOs, usually three or four sharers, need a licence only where the council has an additional licensing scheme.

What are additional and selective licensing?

They are local schemes that a council can add to mandatory HMO licensing. Additional licensing covers smaller HMOs, where the council finds that a significant proportion of them are being managed badly enough to cause problems. Selective licensing covers privately rented homes that are not HMOs, such as a flat let to a couple or a house let to a family, in an area with problems such as low housing demand, persistent antisocial behaviour, poor housing conditions, high deprivation or high crime. Each scheme lasts up to five years, and a council can renew it after consulting again.

Mandatory HMO licensing

National. Every HMO with five or more people from two or more households needs a licence, wherever it is in England.

Additional HMO licensing

Local. A council can extend licensing to smaller HMOs, such as houses shared by three or four people, in all or part of its area.

Selective licensing

Local. A council can require a licence for privately rented homes that are not HMOs, such as a house let to a family or a couple, in a designated area.

Since December 2024 councils in England no longer need the government’s approval for a selective licensing scheme of any size, but they must consult for at least ten weeks first. So schemes start, end and change all the time. Check the schemes that cover a postcode.

What does an HMO licence require?

A licence sets the most people and households who can live in the house and the rooms they can sleep in, and the landlord must meet conditions set in law and by the council. Bedrooms have minimum sizes: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 square metres for two, and 4.64 square metres for a child under 10. No one can sleep in a room smaller than 4.64 square metres. The house must have enough kitchens, bathrooms and toilets for the number of people, and suitable fire precautions.

Every licence also requires the landlord to:

• give the council a gas safety certificate every year
• keep the electrical installation and any electrical appliances and furniture they supply safe
• fit a smoke alarm on every storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker
• give each tenant a written statement of the terms on which they live there
• follow the council’s arrangements for storing and putting out rubbish

Separate management rules apply to every HMO, licensed or not. The manager’s name, address and phone number must be given to each household and displayed prominently in the house, and the manager must keep the shared parts, the water supply, the gas and electricity and each room in good repair, provide rubbish bins and take proper safety measures. The licence holder, and any manager, must also be a fit and proper person.

How long does an HMO licence last?

Up to five years, and the council can grant it for less. The landlord must renew it before it expires, so check the expiry date as well as the licence number: a licence that has run out is no licence at all.

How can I check whether a house is licensed?

Every council must keep a register of the HMO and selective licences it has granted and make it available for the public to inspect, and most publish it online. Search for your council’s name with “public register of licences”, or ask the council’s private housing team. You can also ask the landlord or agent for the licence number, its expiry date and the number of people it allows, and check them against the register.

First, find out whether a licence is needed at all. The free property licence checker tells you whether a selective or additional licensing scheme covers a postcode, for the 25 councils we hold, and when each scheme ends. Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere, so a house of five or more sharers needs a licence whatever the checker says.

Complete RenterCheck goes further for a specific address: it looks the home up on the council HMO licence registers and shows any licence recorded for it, with the number of occupants allowed and the expiry date.

What happens if an HMO should be licensed but isn’t?

The landlord, or whoever controls or manages the house, commits a criminal offence, which can lead to an unlimited fine. Instead of prosecuting, the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000. Letting more people live in a licensed HMO than the licence allows, or breaking its conditions, is also an offence. It isn’t an offence while a valid licence application is being considered, so a landlord who has applied is not letting unlawfully.

The same offences and penalties apply to a home that needs a selective licence and doesn’t have one. If you think the home you rent should be licensed, tell the council: it enforces licensing and can inspect.

Can I get my rent back if my HMO isn’t licensed?

Possibly. If you rented a home that should have been licensed and wasn’t, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order. For an offence from 1 May 2026, the tribunal can order the landlord to repay up to 24 months of the rent you paid while the offence was going on; before then the limit was 12 months. The offence must have been committed in the two years before you apply, while the home was let to you. The landlord doesn’t need to have been convicted, but the tribunal must be sure, beyond reasonable doubt, that the offence happened.

The tribunal decides how much to award, looking at the conduct of the landlord and the tenant and the landlord’s finances. Keep your tenancy agreement, rent receipts or bank statements, and anything showing who lived in the house and when.

Does a flat or house I rent on my own need a licence?

Only if it is in a selective licensing area. A home let to one household, such as a single person, a couple or a family, is not an HMO, so HMO licensing doesn’t apply. But if the council has a selective licensing scheme covering the address, the landlord needs a selective licence instead, unless the home is exempt, for example because it is let by a housing association.

Check whether a selective licensing scheme covers the postcode.

What should I check before renting a room in a shared house?

Count the people: if there will be five or more of you from different households, the house needs an HMO licence. If fewer, check whether the council has an additional licensing scheme. Then ask for the licence number, check it on the council’s register, and compare the number of people it allows with the number who will live there.

• How many people will live here, and how many households?
• Does the house need a licence, and what is the licence number and expiry date?
• Does the licence allow as many people as will live here, and is my room large enough to be used as a bedroom?
• Are there working smoke alarms on every floor, fire doors where needed, and a clear way out?
• Is the manager’s name, address and phone number displayed in the house?
• Can I see the gas safety certificate and the electrical safety report?
• Is the deposit protected, and who is the landlord?

The new tenancy checklist and 25 questions to ask before renting cover the rest.

Is an HMO licence the same as landlord registration?

No. Licensing is a council permission for particular homes, with conditions attached. The new PRS database is a national record of private landlords and their homes in England, which nearly every landlord must join. A shared house can need both.

PRS database vs licensing · Check if a landlord is registered