A place to call a house in multiple occupation? Westminster City Council introduces additional HMO licensing and a reminder of HMO licences

The HMO licensing regime in England has 3 types of HMO licence: mandatory, additional and selective.  To summarise these in the broadest terms possible, a mandatory HMO licence is required for properties occupied by 5 or more persons who do not form a single household and where other criteria are met and other tests fulfilled; an additional HMO licence can be introduced for HMOs which do not come within the mandatory HMO licensing requirements and a selective HMO licence can be introduced for properties which do not come within the definition of an HMO.

The basic definition of an HMO is a property occupied by 3 or more tenants not as a single household and with shared basic facilities.

Local housing authorities can extend the requirement for HMO licences to HMOs which do not come within the mandatory HMO licensing regime.  Westminster City Council has designated the whole of the district of Westminster as an area for additional licensing of HMOs.  This designation was effective from 30 August 2021 and will cease to have effect on 30 August 2026.

So an additional HMO licence is required for all HMOs in the City of Westminster which are occupied by 3 or more persons comprising 2 or more households and an additional HMO licence is also required for what are called Section 257 HMOs.  A converted block of flats will be a Section 257 HMO if there are self-contained flats but the conversion did not comply with building standards at the time of conversion and less than 2/3rds of the flats are owner-occupied (the tenant must have a lease of more than 21 years for it to be owner occupied).  Self-contained, purpose-built blocks of flats with more than two flats in the block do not come within the mandatory HMO licensing regime however, the City of Westminster additional HMO licence designation will apply to HMOs occupied by 3 or more persons comprising 2 or more households in self-contained purpose-built blocks as well.

If you have control or manage property in multiple occupation (or purchase such property), it is extremely important that you are up to date with HMO licensing requirements because it is a criminal offence not to have an HMO licence where required.  A landlord may not serve a section 21 notice to terminate an AST of an HMO requiring an HMO licence and an occupational tenant can apply for a rent repayment order against a landlord of an unlicensed HMO.