Selective Licensing
How selective licensing schemes work, where they apply, and the penalties for letting without a licence.
Learn more →England · Updated July 2026
HMO Licensing: Do You Need a Licence, and Which Type
A property let to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a mandatory HMO licence anywhere in England. Smaller shares may still need a licence if your council runs an additional licensing scheme, and any private let can need one under selective licensing. Use the checker to see which applies.
Free licence checker
Mandatory, additional, selective
Penalties and RROs
A house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a property rented to at least 3 people who are not from one household and who share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. A household means a single person, or members of the same family living together, including couples.
A mandatory HMO licence is required in England when all three of these are true: the property is rented to 5 or more people forming more than 1 household, some or all tenants share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, and at least 1 tenant pays rent. Since October 2018 there is no minimum number of storeys, so a single storey flat or bungalow shared by five unrelated adults needs a licence just as a three storey house does.
Below 5 occupants you may still need a licence. Councils can designate additional licensing schemes covering smaller HMOs, typically shares of 3 or 4 people, and selective licensing schemes covering every privately rented home in an area whether or not it is an HMO. Both are local decisions, so the answer depends on the council and often on the specific street.
FREE TOOL
Do I Need an HMO Licence? Checker
Answer four questions for an indication of which licence regime applies to a property in England. This is guidance, not a legal determination. Your council decides.
Count every occupant, including children.
A household is one person, or members of the same family living together, including couples. Four unrelated sharers are four households. A couple plus two friends is three households.
Check your council's website for the current designations. Schemes are area specific and change often.
Scope: this checker covers England. Wales operates Rent Smart Wales registration and licensing, Scotland has its own mandatory HMO licensing regime for 3 or more unrelated occupants plus landlord registration, and Northern Ireland runs a separate HMO scheme. The thresholds differ, so do not apply this result outside England.
THE THREE REGIMES
Mandatory, Additional and Selective Licensing
These are three separate schemes under the Housing Act 2004. A property can fall under more than one, and needing one licence does not exempt you from another.
Mandatory HMO licensing
Applies everywhere in England with no council discretion. Triggered by 5 or more occupants forming more than 1 household who share amenities, with at least one paying rent. No storey requirement since October 2018. This is the one most landlords mean when they say HMO licence.
Additional licensing
A council choice, covering HMOs that fall below the mandatory threshold, most often shares of 3 or 4 people. It can apply to a whole borough or to named wards. Because it is local and time limited, a property can move in and out of scope as designations are made and expire.
Selective licensing
Covers every privately rented home in a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO, including a flat let to a single family. Councils can designate on grounds such as poor housing conditions, anti social behaviour, low demand, deprivation, crime or high migration.
Why this is expanding: until December 2024, a council needed the Secretary of State's confirmation to introduce a selective licensing scheme covering more than 20% of its area or more than 20% of its private rented homes. The General Approval 2024 removed that ceiling on 23 December 2024. Councils must still meet the statutory conditions in Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 and consult for at least 10 weeks, but there is no longer a size cap requiring sign off. Expect more and larger schemes.
BY OCCUPANT COUNT
Do I Need an HMO Licence for 2, 3, 4 or 5 Tenants?
Assuming shared facilities, each occupant unrelated to the others, and a property in England.
| Occupants | Is it an HMO? | Licence position |
|---|---|---|
| 2 tenants | No, not an HMO | Two unrelated sharers do not meet the 3 person definition, so there is no HMO licence. A selective licensing designation can still catch the property, because selective licensing applies to private lets generally. |
| 3 tenants | Yes, an HMO | It is an HMO but below the mandatory threshold. A licence is needed only if the council runs additional licensing, or selective licensing covers the address. |
| 4 tenants | Yes, an HMO | Same position as 3. Still below the mandatory threshold, so it depends entirely on local designations. Many councils target exactly this size with additional licensing. |
| 5 tenants | Yes, a large HMO | Mandatory licence required anywhere in England, no matter the council or the number of storeys. |
| 6 or more | Yes, a large HMO | Mandatory licence required. Expect tighter conditions on room sizes, amenity ratios and fire safety as occupancy rises. |
The household trap. The threshold counts people and households separately. Five people who are all one family are one household, so no HMO. A couple plus three friends is five people in four households, which is a licensable large HMO. Landlords who count bedrooms rather than households get this wrong most often.
COST AND DURATION
How Much Does an HMO Licence Cost?
There is no national fee. Each council sets its own, and the range across England is wide, commonly several hundred pounds to well over a thousand for a five year mandatory licence, often split into an application part and a grant part. Selective licensing fees are usually lower per property than HMO fees but apply to far more of a portfolio. Always take the figure from the council's own fee schedule for the year you are applying in.
A licence lasts a maximum of 5 years and must be renewed before it expires. Councils can and do issue shorter licences where a landlord's compliance record is weak.
Licence conditions attach to the property and the manager. The manager must be a fit and proper person, which means no relevant criminal record and no history of breaching landlord law or a code of practice. Standard conditions include annual gas safety certificates supplied to the council, working smoke alarms, safety documentation for electrical appliances on request, and that the property is suitable for the number of occupants. Councils can add their own conditions on room sizes, amenity ratios, waste and anti social behaviour.
ENFORCEMENT
Penalties for an Unlicensed Property
Renting out a licensable property without a licence is a criminal offence. A council can prosecute, and conviction carries an unlimited fine. Councils can instead impose a civil penalty as an alternative to prosecution, and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 raised the maximum civil penalty for serious, persistent or repeat breaches to GBP 40,000, with up to GBP 7,000 for initial or less serious breaches.
The bigger financial exposure is usually the rent repayment order. A tenant, or the council, can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for repayment of rent already paid while the property was unlicensed. The Renters' Rights Act doubled the maximum from 12 months of rent to 24 months, and doubled the window for applying from 12 to 24 months after the offence. Landlords who have already been subject to enforcement action must pay the maximum.
There is a further consequence that catches landlords late: while a property is unlicensed, the landlord's ability to recover possession is restricted. Combined with the abolition of section 21 from 1 May 2026, an unlicensed property can become very difficult to get back.
HOW RENTALIZE HELPS
Licences Tracked Per Property, Not Per Spreadsheet
Licensing risk grows with portfolio size, because expiry dates, conditions and new designations arrive per property and per council.
Licence records with expiry alerts
Store the licence type, number, issuing council, conditions and expiry against each property, with reminders well before the five year renewal falls due.
Certificates tied to conditions
Gas safety, electrical reports and alarm checks are held against the property and surfaced when a council asks, rather than hunted for across inboxes.
Occupancy and household counts
Tenancy records show how many people and households actually occupy each property, so a share crossing the 5 person threshold is visible before it is a breach.
FAQ
HMO Licensing Questions
A property let to 3 unrelated people sharing a kitchen or bathroom is an HMO, but it is below the mandatory licensing threshold of 5 occupants. You need a licence only if your council has designated an additional licensing scheme covering smaller HMOs in that area, or a selective licensing scheme covering all private lets there. Both are local decisions that change, so check the council's current designations for the specific address rather than relying on what was true last year.
Four unrelated sharers make the property an HMO but still fall below the mandatory threshold of 5. A licence is required only under an additional or selective licensing designation. Four person shares are the most common target of additional licensing schemes, so the chance of needing a licence at this size is meaningfully higher than most landlords assume. Note that a couple counts as one household, so 4 people can be 3 households.
A household is a single person, or members of the same family living together. Family includes couples, whether married, in a civil partnership or living together as though they were, plus relatives such as parents, children, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Five friends sharing are five households. A family of five is one household and therefore not an HMO at all. A couple with three unrelated lodgers is 5 people in 4 households, which is a licensable large HMO.
A licence lasts a maximum of 5 years and must be renewed before it expires. Councils can issue shorter licences where there are compliance concerns. There is no national fee: each council sets its own, commonly from several hundred pounds to over a thousand for a five year mandatory licence, and often split into an application fee and a grant fee. Take the figure from your council's published fee schedule for the current year.
Letting a licensable property without a licence is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine on conviction. Councils can instead issue a civil penalty, and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 raised the maximum to GBP 40,000 for serious, persistent or repeat breaches, with up to GBP 7,000 for initial breaches. Separately, a rent repayment order can require you to repay up to 24 months of rent to the tenant or the council, doubled by the Act from 12 months, and repeat offenders must pay the maximum.
Yes, that is the point of it. Selective licensing covers every privately rented home in a designated area regardless of how many people live there, so a one bedroom flat let to a single tenant needs a licence if the address falls inside the designation. Since the General Approval 2024 removed the requirement for Secretary of State sign off on schemes covering more than 20% of an area, councils can designate at any size after a consultation of at least 10 weeks, and more schemes are being introduced.
No. An HMO licence is not transferable. It is granted to a named licence holder for a specific property, so a buyer must apply for a licence in their own name, and should do so before completion to avoid a period of unlicensed letting. The same applies if the managing agent changes and the agent was named on the licence. Check the licence before you buy: an unlicensed period exposes the new owner to a rent repayment order.
Generally no. The HMO definition depends on sharing a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, so a fully self contained flat with its own facilities is normally not an HMO, even in a building with several flats. There are exceptions for buildings converted into flats that do not meet the relevant building standards and where fewer than two thirds are owner occupied, which can be licensable as section 257 HMOs. Selective licensing can still apply to a self contained flat.
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK: House in multiple occupation licence, mandatory threshold, conditions and 5 year duration.
- GOV.UK: Selective licensing, a guide for local authorities, including the General Approval.
- GOV.UK: Guide to the Renters' Rights Act, civil penalty maxima and rent repayment orders.
- Housing Act 2004, Parts 2 and 3, the statutory basis for HMO and selective licensing.
General information about licensing in England, not legal advice. Verified against GOV.UK guidance in July 2026. Licensing designations change frequently, so confirm the position for your specific address with the local council.
Related compliance guides
Know which of your properties are licensable
Rentalize tracks licence type, expiry and conditions per property, so a new designation or a renewal date does not become a rent repayment order.