The Housing Act 2004 introduces the licensing of certain houses in multiple occupation. It is compulsory (required by law) that there is a licence for properties that:

• are three or more storeys high, and
• have five or more people in more than one household, and
• share amenities such as bathrooms, toilets and cooking facilities

Does my property require a licence?

To find out if your property requires a licence please view the document "Does my property require a licence?" to the right of this page.

Applying for a licence

There are two ways of applying for a licence for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO):

• To Apply online please click the 'Apply online' link at the bottom of the page.
• Complete, print and return the "Licence Application Form" to the right of the page.

If you are wanting to renew your existing licence please visit our re-licensing webpage.

Fees

See the" Licence Fee Structure" document to the right of this page for details of fees and discounts.

What happens to my application?

When we receive your application you will be contacted by one of our officers to arrange a visit to the property. 

A full Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection will be carried out at the same time. Any matters arising from that part of the inspection will be dealt with under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. 

All matters relating to safety will need to meet before a licence will be issued.

Where a property does not meet the amenity standards and some licence conditions (relating to EPC's; Portable Appliance Testing and Carbon Monoxide) but can do so within a six-month period, a draft licence will be issued giving the licence holder six months to meet those conditions.

The "Licence Procedure Flowchart" to the right explains the procedure that we will follow when handling your licence application.

The new "HMO Licensing Policy" is also available to download from this page.