HMO licensing and compliance: a 2026 checklist for landlords

First, do you actually need a licence?

Three separate licensing schemes can apply to a rented property, and a lot of landlords only learn about the second and third when a letter from the council lands.

Start with the definition. A property is an HMO if at least three tenants live there forming more than one household and they share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. A “household” is one person, or members of one family living together.

You need a mandatory HMO licence if it’s a large HMO: five or more people from two or more households who share facilities, and at least one of them pays rent. That threshold hasn’t moved in years. What has gone is the old three-storey rule — abolished in October 2018 — so the number of floors is irrelevant now. If a guide still tells you an HMO needs three storeys to be licensable, ignore it.

Then there are the two schemes councils run themselves, which reach further down:

• Additional licensing extends HMO licensing to smaller three- and four-person HMOs that sit below the mandatory threshold.
• Selective licensing applies to every privately rented home in a designated area, whether it’s an HMO or a single let.

These are set locally, and more councils are bringing them in every year. Since the government dropped the requirement for Secretary of State sign-off on large schemes in December 2024, selective licensing has expanded quickly. A property that needs no mandatory licence can still need a council one. No national register settles it, so check the actual council that covers the property before you let.

The certificates you have to keep in date

Some apply to every rental, some only to HMOs. The dates are what slip: a lapsed gas record is the first thing an inspector spots.

• Gas safety record (the CP12) — every 12 months, every gas appliance and flue, by a Gas Safe registered engineer. All rentals.
• EICR (the electrical report) — get the fixed wiring inspected at least every five years and give the tenant a copy within 28 days. Applies to every rental, and a breach can run to £30,000.
• EPC — band E or better to let, and to keep letting, since April 2020. The plan to raise the floor to band C by 2030 is a government commitment, not law yet, so E is still the line today.
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — a smoke alarm on every storey with a room used as living space, and a CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance such as a boiler (gas cookers don’t count). The rules tightened in October 2022.
• Fire risk assessment — a written assessment of the common parts, kept up to date, for HMOs. This one is enforced by the fire service, not the council.
• Fire detection and emergency lighting — for HMOs, an alarm system suited to the building and, where escape routes need it, emergency lighting on a monthly and annual test cycle.
• PAT testing — not a standalone legal duty, but councils almost always write annual PAT testing into the HMO licence, so for a licensed HMO treat it as required.

The licence itself runs for up to five years, one per property, and has to be renewed before it expires.

The minimum room sizes

Licensed HMOs have minimum sleeping-room sizes set in law since October 2018: 6.51 m² for one adult, 10.22 m² for two, and 4.64 m² for a child under ten. A room under 4.64 m² can’t be used to sleep in at all, and floor space under a ceiling below 1.5 metres doesn’t count towards the total. Your council can set the bar higher locally, and some do.

What it costs to get it wrong

The Renters’ Rights Act pushed the penalties up on 1 May 2026. Letting an unlicensed HMO is a criminal offence. A council can now impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000, raised from £30,000, or prosecute for an unlimited fine. On top of that, a tenant or the council can claim a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent, double the old 12-month cap, and a serious or repeat offender can face a banning order. The starting point councils tend to use for failing to licence an HMO at all is around £17,000.

The quick checklist

• Check all three licence types against your property’s council and postcode.
• Mandatory HMO licence if it’s five or more people in two or more households sharing facilities.
• Gas safety record renewed every 12 months.
• EICR no older than five years, copy given to the tenant.
• Valid EPC, band E or better.
• Smoke alarms on every storey; CO alarms by any combustion appliance.
• Fire risk assessment for the common parts, kept current.
• Emergency lighting and PAT testing where the licence asks for them.
• Every sleeping room over the minimum size.
• Licence renewed before its five-year expiry.

Common questions