Landlord Licensing

The issue of licensing for private landlords is a cause of some confusion for many so here is a brief summary of the position as it stands:

The initial licensing provisions were brought in to cover “Houses of Multiple Occupation” (‘HMO’). The definition of an HMO is a property occupied by five or more people of different households who share facilities (such as kitchens or bathrooms).

If you are the landlord of an HMO, registration is mandatory wherever the property is situated.

Failure to hold the necessary registration can result in very serious financial penalties.

Landlords of HMO properties must register each individual HMO separately.

The foregoing is a national requirement. In addition, some local authorities can impose extra licensing requirements. Some do, and some do not, but the details of whether or not they do will always be on the authority website, so you should check this to ensure that you are fully compliant.

Licensing requirements fall into three categories:

Mandatory

This is the procedure already outlined above. It relates to HMOs only and applies over the whole country.

Additional

This varies from authority to authority but, again, only applies to HMOs. You should always check for these if you are an HMO landlord. Details of the authority policy can be found on their website. Not all authorities impose additional conditions. If none apply, it will say so on the website.

Selective

These cover all types of let property, not just HMOs. Local authorities have the power to impose selective licensing, but not all do so. Again, a search of the authority website will confirm whether selective licensing applies.  In some authorities (e.g. Blackpool) the conditions only apply in certain areas. Selective licensing normally applies in areas of high demand for rental properties or areas of social deprivation, but this is not a hard and fast rule, so you should always check.

In Wales, all landlords must register with “Rent Smart Wales” and pay a fee, which will vary depending on whether the landlord uses an agent or is a self-manager. Rent Smart Wales also insist on a small amount of training before granting a licence. https://rentsmart.gov.wales/en/licensing/

In Scotland there is a similar system, with all landlords having to sign up to a registration service. Fees vary between authorities. https://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk/

Responsibility

It is always the responsibility of the landlord to obtain the correct licences, regardless of whether or not they employ an agent to manage the property for them.

The licences are normally per property, so each should be checked individually.

The first port of call should be the local authority website covering the location of the property. This will give a summary of the licensing requirements of that authority and, if selective licences are required, will normally detail the areas covered.

As mentioned previously, the penalties for non-compliance can be severe, so ensure that you have the correct licences in place.

Michael Hankey

27 August 2021