Overview of the HMO licensing process

Application

The person managing or having control of the HMO must apply for a licence.

The Stage 1 licence fee payment must accompany the application. We aim to issue your licence within 12 weeks of receiving a valid application.

A valid application comprises a fully completed application form, fee paid, and where the licence holder is different to the applicant, a separate signed declaration.

Inspection

Shortly after receiving your application we will contact you to arrange an inspection and to take your first payment.

We inspect all HMO properties before issuing or renewing the licence. When inspecting, we are looking for significant hazards under the HHSRS, HMO Management Regulation breaches, and assessing the property's overall suitability for occupation against the regulations and our HMO Standards 2022.

We use the information gathered during this inspection to draft necessary licence conditions and communicate any other legal contraventions found.

The second fee payment is required at this stage. We will not grant the final licence until the required fee is paid in full.

Draft HMO Licence

If we are satisfied that the property, licence holder and management arrangements are suitable, we will issue a draft licence (the 'Intention Notice'). This will generally be sent by post and email on request. 

All our HMO licences include mandatory licence conditions plus a number of discretionary conditions as standard. Licences may also include property-specific conditions to regulate the management, use, occupation, condition, or contents of the particular HMO.

If we decide not to grant a licence, we will issue you with a notice to that effect and you will have an opportunity to appeal this decision.

Representations

You have 14 days from when we issue the Intention Notice to object to any aspects of the licence and its conditions.

We will then consider your representations and either accept or reject them and inform you accordingly. If we accept any, we will issue you with a revised draft licence.

Final licence

Once the representation period has expired, we will then issue the actual HMO licence. This is live from the date of service. This means the licence and all of the licence conditions in it become legally enforceable from the day we send it to you.

Licences last a maximum of five years but may be issued for shorter durations if we have concerns.

The licence is property and person specific, and is not transferrable.

Appealing decisions

If you are not happy with any of our decisions, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) within 28 days of receiving the Decision Notice.

Any decisions we make will be in accordance with our HMO Licensing Policy.

Licence conditions

The licence holder must ensure that they comply with all of their licence conditions, the HMO Management Regulations and all other relevant requirements throughout the lifetime of the licence. This includes keeping your contact details up-to-date and sending in copies of safety certificates when they are due.

It is an offence not to comply with any licence conditions and enforcement action may be taken against you.