Additional HMO licensing · Southampton City Council
Southampton City Council Designation for an Area for Additional Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation 2025 (council page name: Additional HMO licensing scheme)
- Status
- In force
- Runs
- 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2030
- Designated
- 17 June 2025
- Fee
- £953 when your full application, with a satisfactory electrical report, reaches the council within three months of the HMO needing a licence, for example from when you first let it as an HMO or take it over: £300 when you apply and £653 within 14 days of the council saying it intends to grant the licence. It's £636 (£300 and £336) if an independent HMO surveyor from the council's approved list has first certified that the property meets all the HMO standards, plus the surveyor's own fee. A later application costs £1,618 (£300 and £1,318). Large student blocks run by members of the ANUK National Code pay half. Licences run to 30 September 2030, when the scheme ends. Fees from 1 October 2025.
- Applies to
- HMOs in nine wards (Banister & Polygon, Bargate, Bassett, Bevois, Freemantle, Millbrook, Portswood, Shirley and Swaythling) that don't need a mandatory licence: usually homes let to three or four people from two or more households who share a kitchen or bathroom, plus HMO flats in purpose-built blocks, private student blocks included. Converted blocks of flats (section 257 HMOs) are left out. Exempt: homes let by a housing association or other social landlord, HMOs under a management order or with a temporary exemption, and buildings the law exempts, such as halls run by a university.
Our records last verified 18 October 2026 · council designation page · licence conditions
Area covered
The designation covers these wards, as they were drawn when the scheme was made:
- Banister & Polygon
- Bargate
- Bassett
- Bevois
- Freemantle
- Millbrook
- Portswood
- Shirley
- Swaythling
What this means for landlords
Additional HMO licensing extends licensing to shared homes below the national 5-person mandatory threshold. If your property in this area houses unrelated sharers, check the scheme’s occupancy criteria. Running a licensable HMO without a licence carries the same penalties as any licensing offence: a civil penalty of up to £40,000 and a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent.
Is your property inside the scheme area?
This checker reflects HouseFile’s records of council licensing designations, not the councils’ live registers. Our records indicate the position at the verification date shown on each result. Schemes are designated, renewed and revoked throughout the year, and postcode-level lookups are approximate near scheme boundaries. Always confirm with the council before letting or buying a property, using the source link on each card. This is general information, not legal advice.
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