Additional HMO Licensing Explained

Additional HMO licensing is a scheme a local authority can introduce to bring smaller HMOs, typically those with three or four occupiers, under a licensing requirement even though they fall below the national mandatory threshold of five or more occupiers. It is decided area by area rather than nationally, so a three-tenant house share needs a licence in one council's area and not in the next simply because of which side of a boundary it sits on.

This guide covers the legal basis for additional licensing, how a council decides to introduce a scheme, how to check whether your property is caught, and what applying actually involves. If you are not sure whether your property counts as an HMO at all, our guide on whether a three-tenant let needs an HMO licence is the better starting point.

Legal basis

Additional licensing is made under section 56 of the Housing Act 2004. A local housing authority can designate the whole or part of its district as subject to additional licensing for a specified description of HMO, provided it considers that a significant proportion of HMOs of that description in the area are being managed sufficiently ineffectively to cause, or be likely to cause, problems for occupiers or the wider public. This is a distinct test from mandatory licensing, which applies automatically once a property reaches five or more occupiers from two or more households regardless of how well it is managed.

Because the test is about management standards rather than a fixed size threshold, additional licensing designations vary in scope. Some councils extend the requirement to every HMO with three or more occupiers across the whole borough; others target a specific ward, or a specific type of property, based on the evidence they gathered before designating the scheme.

How a designation is made

Before making a designation, the authority must take reasonable steps to consult people likely to be affected, including landlords, tenants, letting agents and residents, and must consider the representations made. Following a general approval issued by the Secretary of State, most designations now come into force without needing separate central government sign-off, provided the council runs a consultation of at least ten weeks, does not start that clock until it has published a firm draft proposal, and the designation is consistent with its wider housing strategy.

A designation cannot take effect until at least three months after it is confirmed, and it lasts for a maximum of five years before it must be reviewed, renewed through a fresh designation, or allowed to lapse. Councils can also revoke a designation early, and must publish notice when they do. That combination, area-specific, time-limited and subject to periodic review, means a scheme that did not exist when you bought a smaller shared house can be introduced part-way through your ownership, and one that does exist can be extended, narrowed or wound down later.

How additional licensing differs from mandatory and selective licensing

Three separate licensing routes can apply to a rented property in England, and it is easy to conflate them:

• Mandatory licensing applies nationally to any HMO with five or more occupiers from two or more households, regardless of the council's opinion of management standards in the area.
• Additional licensing, covered in this guide, extends licensing to smaller HMOs in a specific area where the council judges management standards to be a problem.
• Selective licensing is broader still and has nothing to do with HMO status. It can require a licence for any private rented property, shared or not, in a designated area, usually in response to wider concerns about housing conditions or anti-social behaviour.

Our guide to HMO licence requirements covers the mandatory scheme in full, and our selective licensing guide covers the broader area-wide scheme in more depth. A single property can, in principle, be caught by more than one of these at once, though in practice a council designation will usually specify which category a given HMO falls into.

Checking whether your property is caught

Because designations are made council by council, and can change during your ownership, checking the current position for the property's exact address is the only reliable approach:

1. Search the local authority's website for "additional HMO licensing" alongside the borough or district name; most councils publish maps or lists of covered areas and property types.
2. Contact the council's private sector housing or licensing team directly if the published information does not clearly cover your specific street or property type.
3. Ask whether a designation is due to expire, be reviewed or be extended soon, since these schemes run for fixed periods.
4. If you use a letting or managing agent, ask them to confirm the current licensing position in writing for each property they manage, rather than relying on an assumption carried over from a previous tenancy.

Applying and conditions

Where a licence is required, the application process mirrors the mandatory scheme: you provide details of the property, the number of occupiers and households, name a licence holder and manager who must pass a "fit and proper person" test, and supply current safety certificates such as a gas safety record, an EICR and, where relevant, a fire risk assessment. Application fees are set individually by each local authority rather than at a single national rate, so check the specific council's current fee schedule rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere. Licences are typically granted for up to five years and can carry conditions, such as a cap on the number of occupiers or a schedule of works, tailored to the property.

Penalties

Letting an HMO that needs an additional licence without holding one is a criminal offence, and councils can prosecute or, more commonly, issue a civil penalty instead. On top of a direct penalty, tenants or the local authority can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a Rent Repayment Order, which can require the landlord to repay rent received while the property was let without the required licence. It is also worth checking your buy-to-let mortgage terms, since some lenders treat operating without a required licence as a breach of the mortgage conditions in its own right.

How Property HQ helps

Property HQ keeps HMO licences, whether mandatory or from a local additional licensing designation, alongside their expiry dates and the certificates an application depends on, in one compliance record with reminders ahead of renewal. That is particularly useful if you hold smaller shared properties across more than one council area, since it removes the need to remember which designation applies to which address.

Disclaimer

This guide is general information for UK landlords, not legal advice, and describes the position in England as at August 2026. Additional licensing designations, fees and conditions vary by local authority and change over time. Check the relevant council's current designation and GOV.UK before letting or continuing to let a shared property.