HMO Licence Guide: Mandatory, Additional, Selective and Renewal

You need an HMO licence from the council to let a house in multiple occupation. In England it's compulsory once five or more people from two or more households live there, and councils can also license smaller shared houses or every private let in a chosen area. A licence lasts five years at most. Let without one and you risk a civil penalty of up to £40,000.

The first application is rarely the problem. The second one is, five years later, when nobody remembers the expiry date, the council has launched a new scheme two streets away and the gas certificate the licence depends on ran out in March. This guide covers the rules as they stand in October 2026, then shows you how to build a licence register in an afternoon.

Every HMO licence carries an expiry date, an occupant limit and conditions to track.

When does a shared house need a licence?

A house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a home rented by at least three people who aren't one household (a family, say) and who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Plenty of HMOs need no licence at all. In England the mandatory licence applies when the HMO:

• is occupied by 5 or more people;
• who live in 2 or more separate households; and
• meets the standard test, the converted building test, or the self-contained flat test (but not a purpose-built flat in a block of 3 or more flats).

At least one tenant must pay rent. So five friends renting a terrace, each with their own room and a shared kitchen, need a mandatory licence. Four friends don't, unless the council runs an additional scheme. That "unless" is where most landlords get caught.

Mandatory, additional or selective: which scheme covers you?

There's one national scheme and two that councils opt into. A property only ever needs one licence: if it's licensed as an HMO under the mandatory or additional scheme, it doesn't also need a selective licence.

Council designations end after five years at most, then lapse or get renewed. A house that needed nothing last year can need a licence now, and the reverse happens too. Check the council's current schemes, and when they end, before every new tenancy.

Renew before the expiry date, because nothing happens automatically

The council sets the licence period, and it can't run more than five years from the date of grant. There's no rollover. GOV.UK is blunt about it: "You must renew your licence before it runs out."

Timing matters for a legal reason. If you've made a proper application and the council hasn't decided it yet, that gives you a defence to the offence of running an unlicensed HMO. Apply the day after expiry and you've lost it.

Each council runs renewals its own way. Camden, for example, opens its renewal portal 30 days before expiry and treats anything submitted after the expiry date as a new application, at a higher fee.

You can't transfer a licence. Sell the house or change the licence holder and the new person applies from scratch. If the licence holder dies, the house is treated as exempt for three months, and the council can add another three at the personal representatives' request.

Fees are set locally, and councils may want current gas, electrical and fire safety certificates with the renewal (Camden does). We'd start pulling those together about 90 days before expiry. That's our advice, not a legal deadline.

One HMO licence, five years of deadlines. The renewal must be in before the expiry date.

The conditions you sign up to, and why each needs an owner

Every licence carries the conditions in Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004, and the council can add its own. Breaching a condition is a separate offence from not having a licence. So treat each line below as a recurring job with somebody's name on it.

The HMO management regulations put further duties on the manager. You must display your name, address and phone number somewhere prominent, and send the council the latest gas safety certificate within 7 days if it asks in writing. For the checks themselves, see our guides to gas safety certificate renewal and EICR deadlines.

Letting without a licence: penalties, rent repayment and the defences

It's a criminal offence. Since 1 May 2026 it can also catch superior landlords, not only whoever manages the house day to day.

You do have defences. You're not guilty of running an unlicensed HMO if a valid application or a temporary exemption notice was pending, or if you can show a reasonable excuse. A superior landlord can't rely on a clause in the tenancy agreement alone.

Leaving the HMO market? Ask for a temporary exemption notice

Say you plan to cut the house from six sharers to four so it drops out of licensing. Tell the council and ask for a temporary exemption notice. It lasts three months. A second notice for another three months is only available in exceptional circumstances, and there's no third.

Wales and Scotland run different rules

Yes, and the differences are big enough that your register should record the nation for every property. Scotland licenses at three sharers and caps licences at three years.

Build an HMO licence register in one afternoon

Put every licence in one sheet, one row per property, and let formulas flag renewals, over-occupation and missing gas certificates. For 15 shared houses we'd allow about two hours. Most of that goes on council websites.

1. Check each council's schemes, about five minutes a council. Note whether mandatory, additional or selective licensing applies and when each designation ends.
2. Find each licence document, roughly three minutes a property. Copy the licence number, holder, grant date, expiry date and maximum occupants from the paper, not from memory.
3. Give any council-added condition with a deadline (works to finish by a date, for instance) its own row.
4. Count today's occupants and note the latest gas and electrical dates.
5. Sort out the red rows this week and put every renewal in the diary 90 days ahead.

Then add conditional formatting (Excel: "Use a formula"; Google Sheets: "Custom formula is"):

• Red, =$E2<=30: the licence expires within 30 days or already has.
• Amber, =AND($E2>30,$E2<=90): start the renewal now.
• Red, =$H2="OVER LIMIT": too many occupants for the licence.
• Amber, =$J2-TODAY()<=60: book the gas engineer.

Small habits that make the next renewal easy

Keep a renewal pack for each house. Ours would hold the licence, a floor plan with room sizes, the latest gas certificate and EICR, fire alarm and emergency lighting records, and the written statements you gave tenants.

Measure the rooms once and write the figures down. Room sizes rarely change, and the 6.51 m² and 10.22 m² thresholds decide how many people you can house.

Read council consultations. A council has to consult before it makes a designation, so the consultation is your early warning that a new scheme is coming.

Line the dates up. Book the gas check and EICR so fresh certificates land just before the renewal application goes in.

And watch the EPC rules. The government plans to require an EPC for the whole house when rooms are let individually; our EPC rules for landlords guide tracks the change.

Five mistakes we see at renewal time

Spreadsheet or software for tracking HMO licences?

A spreadsheet is fine for a handful of HMOs under one council, as long as somebody opens it every week. Software starts to pay when you run dozens of houses across several councils, when conditions and certificates depend on each other, or when a council or tribunal may ask you to prove what you did and when. Other duties changed on 1 May 2026 too; the Renters' Rights Act checklist lists them.

ExpiryEdge stores each licence, condition and certificate as a record with an owner and a backup, and reminds them at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days by email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or Teams. Anything overdue goes up to a manager. The letting agent compliance page shows how it works, or start with the free landlord compliance tracker spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an HMO licence last?

Five years at most. The council picks the period and can make it shorter, so read the date on the licence itself. It won't renew itself. Put a fresh application in before the expiry date, because a properly made application that's still being decided protects you from the offence of running an unlicensed HMO.

Do I need an HMO licence for 3 or 4 tenants?

Not under the mandatory scheme in England, which starts at five people in two or more households. Your council may still require one. Many run additional licensing for smaller shared houses, and selective licensing can catch any private let in a designated area. Check the council's website for the address before each new tenancy.

What is the fine for not having an HMO licence?

In England the council can issue a civil penalty of up to £40,000 per offence instead of prosecuting. Go to court and the fine is unlimited. On top of that, the First-tier Tribunal can order you to repay up to two years' rent to the tenants, or to the council if universal credit covered it.

What is the difference between additional and selective licensing?

Additional licensing covers HMOs below the mandatory threshold, such as a house shared by three or four people. Selective licensing is about place. It can cover every privately rented home in a designated area, family lets included, whether or not the house is an HMO. Both are council schemes. Each needs a consultation first and lasts five years at most.

Can I transfer an HMO licence when I sell the property?

No. The licence belongs to the holder, not the house, so the buyer has to apply for their own. Agree in the sale timetable who applies and when, so the house isn't let without a licence on the day of completion. Tenants already living there don't change that duty.

What conditions are in every HMO licence?

Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004 sets the baseline. You give the council a gas safety certificate every year and keep electrics and appliances safe. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms must work. Occupiers get written terms, and bedrooms must meet minimum sizes, with occupant limits and waste rules on top. Councils often add more.

Sources

• House in multiple occupation licence, GOV.UK
• Housing Act 2004, section 68 (HMO licence duration), legislation.gov.uk
• Housing Act 2004, section 72 (licensing offences), legislation.gov.uk
• Housing Act 2004, section 249A (financial penalties), legislation.gov.uk
• Housing Act 2004, Schedule 4 (mandatory licence conditions), legislation.gov.uk
• Housing Act 2004, sections 56, 60, 62, 80, 84 and 91, legislation.gov.uk
• Licensing of HMOs (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018, article 4
• Licensing of HMOs (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018
• Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/319)
• Housing and Planning Act 2016, sections 40 and 44 (rent repayment orders)
• Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, regulations 3 and 6
• Licensing of HMOs (Prescribed Descriptions) (Wales) Order 2006, article 3
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, sections 125 and 134
• Renewal of HMO licensing, Camden Council (example of a council renewal process)

Last reviewed: 12 October 2026