Student house HMO licensing requirements

Whether your student house needs an HMO licence

A student house will usually be a house in multiple occupation (HMO), but not every HMO needs a licence. There are two questions: first, is the property an HMO at all; and second, if it is, does it fall within a licensing scheme.

A property is generally an HMO where at least three tenants live there forming more than one household and they share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Students who are unrelated and not in a couple each count as a separate household, so a typical shared student house with three or more unrelated occupiers will be an HMO.

Whether that HMO needs a licence depends on the type of scheme that applies.

Mandatory licensing

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England to any HMO occupied by five or more people forming two or more households who share facilities. Since the storey requirement was removed in October 2018, the number of storeys no longer matters for mandatory licensing in England. So a student house with five or more unrelated occupiers sharing a kitchen or bathroom will almost always need a mandatory HMO licence, regardless of how many floors it has.

If your house has five or more sharers from more than one household, treat it as requiring a licence unless a specific exemption applies.

Additional and selective licensing

Even where there are only three or four occupiers, so mandatory licensing does not apply, many local councils operate their own additional licensing schemes that catch smaller HMOs, and some operate selective licensing that can catch other rented homes in designated areas. These schemes vary from council to council and are common in areas with large student populations.

You therefore need to check the specific licensing schemes operated by the local council for the area where the house is. The council’s website will set out whether additional or selective licensing is in force and which streets or wards it covers.

Exemptions to be aware of

Some accommodation is exempt. Purpose-built student halls that are managed or controlled by a specified educational establishment and covered by an approved code of management practice are excepted from HMO licensing. This exemption is aimed at university and college-run halls, not an ordinary private landlord letting a shared house to students, so it is unlikely to help in a normal student house let by a private landlord or letting agent. If your accommodation is run directly by your university or college, it may fall under this exemption instead.

What it means if the house does not have a licence

If the property should be licensed and is not, the landlord is committing a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. This is important for you as a tenant because it opens up several protections and potential remedies.

Rent repayment order. Where a landlord has let a property that required a licence without one, tenants (or the council) can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order. This can require the landlord to repay up to twelve months of rent that you have paid, or up to twelve months of any housing benefit or universal credit housing element. For a full student house this can be a substantial sum, and it is a genuinely useful remedy.

Restriction on section 21 eviction. A landlord generally cannot serve a valid section 21 notice to end an assured shorthold tenancy while the property is an unlicensed HMO that is required to be licensed. This gives you significant protection against a no-fault eviction. It does not stop the landlord using other lawful routes, and the position can be affected by whether a licence application has been made, so the detail matters.

Local authority enforcement. The council can prosecute the landlord, leading to an unlimited fine, or impose a financial penalty of up to thirty thousand pounds as an alternative to prosecution. Repeated or serious offences can lead to a banning order and entry on a database of rogue landlords.

Importantly, the absence of a licence does not make your tenancy invalid or mean you can simply stop paying rent. Your tenancy continues and you remain liable for rent, but the remedies above are available to you.

Missing facts that affect the answer

Several details would change the analysis. The key ones are how many people live in the house and how many separate households they form, whether they share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, which local council area the property is in and whether that council runs additional or selective licensing, and who actually manages the property, since university-managed accommodation may be exempt. It also matters whether the landlord has applied for a licence, because a pending application can affect both enforcement and the ability to use section 21.

Practical next steps

1. Work out the household position. Count the occupiers and identify how many separate households there are and what facilities are shared. Three or more sharers from more than one household will normally be an HMO; five or more almost certainly needs a mandatory licence.

2. Check the council’s public HMO register. Most councils publish a list of licensed HMOs online. Search for your address to see whether a licence exists.

3. Check for additional and selective licensing. Look at the council’s licensing pages to see whether a scheme covers your street, especially if you have three or four sharers.

4. Preserve evidence. Keep your tenancy agreement, records of rent paid, bank statements, and any correspondence with the landlord or agent. If you may pursue a rent repayment order, evidence of the dates and amounts of rent is essential.

5. Consider reporting it. If the property should be licensed and is not, you can report it to the council’s private sector housing or environmental health team, which can investigate and take enforcement action. This can be done alongside, or instead of, a rent repayment order application.

6. Consider a rent repayment order. If the property was unlicensed during your tenancy, you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). There are time limits, generally within twelve months of the offence, so do not delay if you want to pursue this.

A note of caution before assuming wrongdoing

The absence of a licence on the public register does not always mean the landlord has broken the law. The property may not actually require a licence, an application may be pending, or an exemption may apply. Confirm the number of occupiers, the shared facilities and the relevant council scheme before concluding that an offence has been committed, because whether a licence was required is the foundation for every remedy above.