HMO Mandatory Licensing London — 5+ Persons, 2+ Households

Since the 2018 national expansion, an HMO is mandatorily licensable in England where it houses 5 or more persons forming 2 or more households who share basic facilities (kitchen, bathroom, WC). The number of storeys is no longer relevant. A 5-bed flat-share at any height triggers mandatory licensing.

A household is a single person or members of the same family living together — including unmarried partners, parents and children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Two unrelated friends sharing are two households. A couple plus an unrelated lodger is two households. The household count determines whether the property is an HMO at all.

Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 2004 (as amended in 2018) sets minimum sleeping-room floor areas: 6.51m² for one adult, 10.22m² for two adults sharing, 4.64m² for a child under 10. Floor space below 1.5m floor-to-ceiling height does not count. Councils reject licence applications where any sleeping room falls below the Schedule 4 threshold.

Section 254 HMOs that fall below the 5-person / 2-household threshold are HMOs in legal definition but only need a licence where the local council operates an additional licensing scheme. Buildings managed by housing associations, halls of residence under separate management codes, and properties let to family members are exempt. Buy-to-let single-family lets, where the family is one household, are not HMOs.

A satisfactory EICR less than 5 years old, a BS 5839-6 Grade D1 LD2 interlinked smoke and heat alarm certificate, a written Fire Risk Assessment under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, a current CP12 gas safety cert, a current EPC, a Schedule 4 room-size schedule, an annotated floor plan, and a written management plan to the council's format.

London council mandatory HMO licence fees typically sit between £700 and £1,200 per property. Newham, Waltham Forest, Westminster, Brent and the City sit at the upper end (£900–£1,200). Outer boroughs (Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Sutton if their schemes go live) sit at the lower end (£700–£950). Some councils split the fee into a per-application admin charge and a per-property element.

Most London councils target 12–16 weeks from a complete application. Clean applications with the evidence pack already assembled can clear in 10 weeks at the most efficient councils. Designated-ward councils with high application volumes (Hackney, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets) slip to 14–16 weeks even on clean files.

No — a mandatory HMO licence is not transferable between owners. The new owner must apply for a fresh licence in their own name, typically within 28 days of completion. Sellers should confirm at exchange that the buyer is aware of the mandatory threshold and the cost of the fresh application — failure to license post-completion exposes the new owner to civil penalty fines from day one.

Most mandatory HMO licences run for 5 years. The council typically sends a renewal notice 6 months before expiry. The renewal application is identical to the first — same evidence pack, same fee. The certificates need to be re-issued where they have expired during the licence term (the EICR every 5 years, the FRA reviewed annually). We hold the renewal date and submit 90 days out.

A civil penalty of up to £30,000 per breach under Schedule 13A of the Housing Act 2004, or criminal prosecution as an alternative. Tenants can apply for a Rent Repayment Order under Section 40 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 recovering up to 12 months of rent paid. The Renters' Rights Act 2026 has made licensing-scheme compliance substantive evidence in any Section 8 possession claim — operating unlicensed now affects both penalties and possession.