What is an HMO? The definition, the licence, and the rules

What is a house in multiple occupation?

A house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a property let to at least three people from more than one household who share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen. Student houses, shared flats and bedsits are typical.

Section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 sets the legal test. Broadly, the occupiers do not form a single household, it's their only or main residence, at least one pays rent, and they share one or more basic amenities.

“Household” is the word that catches people out. A couple or a family counts as one. Unrelated sharers are one household each, even if they've lived together before, so three friends sharing a three-bedroom house make it an HMO.

When does an HMO need a licence?

A large HMO needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England. It counts as large if five or more people from more than one household live there, share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, and at least one pays rent. The number of storeys doesn't matter.

Below that, it depends on your council. Some run additional or selective licensing schemes that cover smaller HMOs, so check with the council or use our licensing checker. Letting without a licence you need can mean a civil penalty of up to £40,000, or an unlimited fine on prosecution, plus a rent repayment order of up to 24 months' rent. Our penalty calculator works out the figures for your house.

What makes HMOs different to manage

The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 apply to HMOs, licensed or not. Among other things, you must display your contact details in the house, keep escape routes clear and keep fire alarms working.

Licensing requirements

When you apply, the council checks that the house is suitable for the number of people living there and that you, or your agent, are “fit and proper”. It sets the fee, and a licence lasts up to five years.

Apply as soon as you know you'll need one. A properly made application is a defence to letting unlicensed while the council considers it, from the date you apply.

Fire safety standards

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 covers the common areas of multi-occupied residential buildings, such as an HMO's hallways and stairs, which need a written fire risk assessment. You can do it yourself.

Beyond that, councils decide what each house needs, using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and the LACORS fire safety guide. Under the guide, a low-risk two-storey shared house needs no fire doors, while a bedsit-type HMO needs FD30S doors. Every licence also requires a smoke alarm on each storey with living accommodation.

If the council finds a serious fire hazard, it can serve an improvement notice, and failing to comply is an offence.

Room size and occupancy limits

An HMO licence in England sets minimum bedroom sizes: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10, 10.22 for two people over 10, and 4.64 for a child under 10. A room under 4.64 square metres can't be used for sleeping, and you must report it to the council.

The licence also caps the number of occupiers, based on the house's size and facilities, and knowingly going over it is an offence.

Documents in a shared house

An HMO needs the standard landlord documents too, including the gas safety record, the Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), each tenant's written statement of terms and the deposit prescribed information. GOV.UK says a room let on its own needs no Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), but a house let as a whole does.

In a five-bedroom house let room by room, each tenant needs their statement of terms before the tenancy is entered into, and the gas safety record and EICR before they move in, all on different dates.

Paper copies leave no record, and a group email can't show which tenants opened the attachment.

Why individual tracking matters

In a dispute or at tribunal, “I emailed everyone” is weak if one tenant says they never got the gas safety record. A dated log showing that tenant opened it is much harder to argue with.

Licence conditions add more: a current gas safety certificate for the council every year, and a written statement of terms for each occupier.

Managing tenant turnover

As rooms change hands, every new tenant who pays a deposit needs the prescribed information within 30 days of you receiving it.

Renewals go to every tenant living there: the new gas safety record within 28 days of the check, and each new EICR within 28 days of the inspection. By hand, that means knowing who got which year's certificate.

Shared vs individual documents

The gas safety record and EICR cover the whole house, so every tenant gets a copy of the same one. Each tenant's statement of terms and deposit prescribed information are theirs alone. Keep a dated record of both.

Keeping the record online

An online system can keep that record for you. It can:

• Keep the house's documents together
• Give each room its own tenant link
• Record when each tenant opens a document and whether they agree
• Remind you before certificates expire
• Produce a PDF report of what was delivered and acknowledged
• Keep a history of each room's tenants

Each room's link shows the whole-house documents plus that room's own, so a renewed gas safety record goes up once and appears on every link.

This three-minute video shows how that works in HouseFile, from adding the rooms to each tenant's own link.

Watch the video3 min

What good HMO management looks like

A good HMO file shows what each tenant was given and when they opened or agreed to it. Next to it sit the licence, the written fire risk assessment and the gas safety records. Keep each gas record until two more checks have been done.