Additional Licensing
Additional HMO licensing is a discretionary licensing scheme that local councils in England can introduce to regulate smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) that do not meet the national threshold for mandatory HMO licensing.
Scheme start date and length
On 18 March 2026, the Cabinet made a decision to approve a new designation for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation. This designation comes into force on 25 June 2025 and will last for five years.
The designation made in 2021 continues to remain operative until 9 June 2026.
Download the Area designations for additional HMO licensing.
There will be a small gap between schemes, however the vasty majority of licences are unaffected.
Properties that fall under the scheme
HMOs with 3 or 4 tenants or HMOs that are classed as section 257 HMOs fall under this scheme.
HMOs with five or more tenants (unless they are section 257 HMOs) fall under the mandatory (England-wide) HMO licence scheme.
When to apply
Licences continue in force, even during the gap.
If your licence expires on or before 9 June 2026, you are required to renew the licence as our normal renewal process. See How to renew an HMO licence.
If your licence has an expiry date 10 June 2026 to 24 June 2026, we will write to you to inform you how to apply. You will need to apply by 25 June 2026.
If your licence has an expiry date on or after 25 June 2026, you are required to renew the licence as our normal renewal process. See How to renew an HMO licence.
Licence length
The Council is continuing with the one, two, five year licence scheme, with no changes. A one year licence is the default. You can apply for a longer licence. More information is available:
- Criteria for a one-year HMO licence application
- Criteria for a two-year HMO licence application
- Criteria for a five-year HMO licence application
Licence Conditions
Licence conditions apply to both mandatory HMO licences and additional HMO licences.
There is a minor change to the wording on the Waste Management condition to simply wording.
No change to amenity and facility requirements
Our amenity and facility guide for HMOs remains the same. This was updated in 2018. The 2018 revision included:
- new minimum bedroom sizes following a change to national legislation
- information on different fire precautions for properties with joint or separate tenancy agreements - this was not a change in standards, it was to make it clear that different fire precautions have always been required for joint or separate tenancies as per national guidance
- more information provided on fire precautions for bedsit rooms (kitchen facilities within the bedroom and shared bathroom facilities)
- more information on kitchen facilities for shared houses with a split between requirements for under 5 people sharing, 6 to 7 people sharing and 8 to 10 people sharing
- information on standards for section 257 HMOs (converted blocks of self-contained flats)
If we re-inspect the house and find the HMO does not meet the 2018 guide then we are likely to request changes.
We plan to update the Amenity and Facility Guide in 2026 to include updated information on the new Additional Licence scheme and changes to regulations on Electrical Safety and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard.
Reminders and forgetting to apply
As with a normal renewal of an HMO licence, it is your responsibility to apply for the licence.
We will write to those landlords whose licences expired between the expiry of the old scheme and start of the new scheme to tell them to apply.
If you forget to apply, then you will be charged the new application fee instead of the renewal fee. In addition, it is an offence to fail to licence an HMO and the Council may begin an investigation for operating an unlicensed HMO.
Inspections before issue of licence
We will not inspect before the licence is issued. We will check the previous licence for any outstanding conditions and our records to see if any conditions need to be added to the licence. We will then inspect or audit the properties once in the five years – we may inspect more often if there are concerns raised about a property.
Reason for the break in the scheme
There was a slight gap in the scheme due to Cabinet meeting dates.
