House in Multiple Occupation licences

Any rented property with three or more people living across two or more households and sharing common facilities is classed as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

All properties that meet this description are covered by various legislation - in particular, the Housing Act 2004 and The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006, which lists eight specific duties managers of HMOs must follow. 

Any rented property with five or more people living across two or more households and sharing common facilities is classed as a large house in multiple occupation (HMO) and must be licensed.

Apply for a licence

Anyone operating a licensable house in multiple occupation (HMO) without a licence or a valid application for a licence will be committing an offence and will be open to prosecution. The fine for such an offence could be up to a maximum of £30,000. 

Licence fees

There is a fee for licensing each HMO. The fees for 2019/20 are as follows:

Fees for house in multiple occupation licences
Description Charge
Housing Notices (fixed charge per person) £300
HMO Licence fee Part 1: Initial licence fee application (includes renewal of licences) for property up to five rooms £599
HMO Licence fee Part 2: Ongoing management of five-year licence (includes renewals) £426
Enforcement fee: Due to failure to apply to local authority £254
Additional bedrooms (for each room over the standard five rooms) £16 per room
Production of drawings £50
Standard inspection for immigration £205

Inspection programme

We have a proactive inspection programme of HMOs. If the condition of a property is not up to standard then the landlord or owner will be asked to carry out improvements.

For more information about these standards, please visit our Property conditions page.

Fire safety

We want to make sure that all residents living in Dacorum have a safe home and a healthy environment to live in. To help landlords keep their properties safe, we have created a  HMO fire safety leaflet (PDF 1MB)

Public register

We are required (under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004) to maintain and make available a public register of licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation. 

You can view the register below:

 Register of licensed Houses in Multiple Occupation (PDF 496KB)

For further information on how we use your data, please visit our Privacy policies page.

Fit and proper statement

When deciding whether a licence applicant is a ‘fit and proper person', we must have evidence that shows the applicant, or anyone else associated with the management of the house in multiple occupation is a fit and proper person. 

To do this, we must take into consideration the legislation set out in the Housing Act 2004 (section 66).

When you apply for a HMO licence, you will be required to supply a basic disclosure certificate for the person named as a property manager, which will list any unspent criminal convictions. You can find more information and apply for a basic disclosure certificate on the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) website.

For further information, please read our  Fit and Proper Landlord Statement (PDF 289KB).

More information

For more information, please email pshousing@dacorum.gov.uk or call 01442 228000 and ask for Private Sector Housing.