HMO licensing information

Houses in Multiple Occupancy Licence - Apply online  

All houses of multiple occupation must be licenced. This is to make sure they are safe, particularly in the case of a fire, and that people living in shared houses or flats have decent facilities.  

Extra responsibilities for HMO landlords include:

• the general management of the property  
• standards relating to escape routes in case there is a fire  
• appropriate fire detection and alarm systems are installed
• annual gas safety checks are carried out
• electrics are checked every 5 years
• the property is not overcrowded  
• there are adequate and suitably sited toilet and bathing facilities  
• there are adequate food storage, preparation and cooking facilities  
• communal areas and shared facilities are clean and in good repair  

Advice for tenants

If you live in a HMO you should ask your landlord if your property is licenced.

If you believe your property to be below the required standards, or if you find your landlord is un-co-operative you can also inform us by email, providing details of your address and landlord’s contact details.  

We will then contact your landlord to investigate.  

Apply for a HMO licence

If you are a landlord and answer yes to all three of the following questions, then you must apply for an HMO licence:

1. Is the property occupied by 5 or more persons?
2. Do the occupants form 2 or more households?
3. Are basic amenities shared, for example a bathroom or kitchen?

Any room below 6.51sq m cannot to be used for occupation, therefore there is a minimum room size of 6.51sq m for a single room, and 10.22sq m for a double room.  

You will need to apply for a licence regardless of how many floors the property has. 

How to apply for a licence

You can apply online using the form below or download and complete a paper application form. You will need to pay a fee.

Houses in Multiple Occupancy Licence - Apply online  

Once your application has been received, we will review it, examine your supporting documents and provide a licence as soon as we can.  

We can inspect your property at any time but have a three-year period once we have provided your licence, if we consider that is appropriate. Each application is judged on a case-by-case basis.  

Licence refusals  

We can refuse your application if the property:

• does not meet the conditions set out in our adopted standards for houses in multiple occupation
• the landlord or manager does not meet the fit and proper person requirements as outlined in the application form

In such circumstances we can issue an Interim Management Order (IMO), which allows us to step in and manage the property. The owner keeps their rights as an owner. This order can last for a year until suitable permanent management arrangements can be made. If the IMO expires and there has been no improvement, we can issue a Final Management Order. This can last up to five years and can be renewed.  

Appealing a decision

If you are unhappy with our decision, you may appeal to a residential property tribunal.  

You may also appeal to a residential property tribunal regarding conditions attached to a licence or any decision to vary or revoke a licence. Any appeal must be made within 28 days of the decision being made.  

If a HMO licence is granted and other parties wish to appeal against it being granted they may do so to a residential property tribunal within 28 days of the decision being made.  

If you are an applicant or a third party, you should always contact us in the first instance if you have any queries, concerns or cause for complaint, preferably in the form of a letter with proof of delivery.  

Offences and penalties  

It is an offence if the landlord or person in control of the property:  

• fails to apply for a licence for a licensable property
• allows a property to be occupied by more people than are permitted by the licence  

A summary conviction for failing to apply for a licence or allowing more people to occupy premises than permitted on a licence, can result in an unlimited fine.  

A summary conviction for failure to comply with the conditions on a licence can attract fines not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.  

A tenant living in a property that should have been licenced, but was not, can apply to the residential property tribunal to claim back any rent they have paid during the unlicensed period (up to a limit of 12 months). 

We can also reclaim any housing benefit that has been paid during the time the property was without a licence.  

Check the register  

If you manage or operate a licensable property without a valid licence you are breaking the law.  

Temporary exemptions  

If a landlord or person in control of a property intends to stop operating the HMO or reduces the number of occupants and can give clear evidence, then it is possible to apply for a Temporary Exemption Notice.  

This lasts a maximum of 3 months and ensures a property in the process of being reverted to an ordinary dwelling does not need to be licenced.  

If the situation is not resolved, then a second Temporary Exemption Notice can be issued.  

When this runs out, the property must either be licenced; become subject to an Interim Management Order or cease to be a HMO.  

Further information  

If you require any further information, please view our useful HMO information for landlords below or contact the Environmental Health team by completing our online enquiry form or use the contact details below: 

Enquiry form

Domestic Team, Environmental Health, East Cambridgeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4EE
Telephone: 01353 665555 

Useful information for landlords

There are serious consequences for landlords and letting agents who do not obtain licences for licensable properties. We can bring a prosecution against the landlord in the Magistrates’ Court, and fines for Housing Act 2004 offences have been unlimited since March 2015. Tenants and local authorities have additional remedies in the form of RROs where rent or housing benefit can be claimed back from the landlord by order of the First-Tier Tribunal.

Households 

A household is either a single person or members of the same family who live together. A family includes people who are:

• married or living together, including people in same-sex relationships 
• relatives or half-relatives: for example, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings 
• step-parents and step-children 

Purpose built flats

Flats are considered to be purpose built if there are up to two flats in the block and one or both of the flats are occupied by five or more persons in two or more separate households.  This will apply regardless of whether the block is above or below commercial premises. This brings certain flats above shops on high streets within mandatory licensing as well as small blocks of flats which are not connected to commercial premises.

It is the individual HMO that is required to be licensed and not the building within which the HMO is situated. This means that where a building has two flats and each is occupied by five persons living in two or more households, each flat will require a separate HMO licence. 

LACORS guidance on housing fire safety

Officers also work very closely with the Fire Authority and work using The LACORS Guidance on Housing Fire Safety which was written by the Chief Fire Officers Association and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. If you are a landlord you can obtain good advice from this on the type of fire alarm systems you may need. 

Management regulations 

These can all be found in detail in the Management Regulations for HMO's document, every HMO must have a manager. A notice giving the name and address of the manager should be on display in the premises, the Housing (Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation) Regulations 1990 cover aspects relating to good management of the premises. 

Further details are available in the management regulations for HMO's document.

Gas safety

All gas installations and appliances must be safety checked and maintained annually by a suitably qualified Gas Safe registered installer, and the installation must meet the requirements of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.

The Gas Safe Register provides details of qualified and registered gas engineers. This information can also be gained by calling 0800 4085500 and you can keep up to date with Gas Safe information by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

The UK Health and Safety Executive also provide information on Domestic Gas Safety.

Please read the Gas Safety Factsheet for Tenants for more information.

Electrics need to comply with current Building Regulations and be installed, or works undertaken by a member of a competent persons scheme.

Different categories of HMO have different levels of risk and the standards reflect these. For example, hostels may need more smoke detectors than houses with lodgers.

We have also produced a home safety inspection checklist to help with these standards:

If you require further information, please contact us.