License to Let
There are two types of property-licenses:
Mandatory and Discretionary Licensing.
- Mandatory (Parliament insists all such properties are licensed):
- Part two of the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) covers mandatory licensing under s55.
- This provides that a large HMO is:
- 5 or more tenants
- living on 3 or more storeys
- forming two or more households
- However, The extension of Mandatory Licensing 1st October 2018 scrapped the word 'storey' meaning any property with 5 or more tenants is now licensable regardless of the number of floors or storeys.
- Must be licensed wherever located in England and Wales. This part of the act was originally implemented in Canterbury in 2007 – most Canterbury student landlords are familiar with this.
- Discretionary Licensing (Parliament allows LAs to designate areas as licensable):
- Discretionary Licensing is twofold:
- Additional and Selective Licensing
- “Additional Licensing”
- is found in part 2 and s.56 HA 2004.
- “Selective Licensing”
- is found in part 3 under s. 80 HA 2004
- Both Additional and Selective Licensing require Landlords to license properties in different situations but with the same outcome – hefty fees resulting in higher rents and significant paperwork.
- Additional Licensing provides that small HMOs, i.e.
- 3 to 4 tenants at least one of whom is unrelated to at least one other
- forming two or more households,
- Living on any number of storeys, be licensed in “Designated” areas.
- This part of the act was the controversial subject of consultation with a possible view to implementation in Canterbury in 2013.
- Three sharing blood brothers is one household
- not an HMO so not licensable,
- Two brothers and a friend is two households
- this is an HMO and potentially licensable
- Selective Licensing enables “Local Housing Authorities to review housing conditions in their districts” and
- requires small HMOs with
- 3 to 4 tenants living on
- any number of storeys
- to be licensed if an area falls within certain negative criteria –
- mainly run down housing with
- serious anti-social behaviour
- related to the properties in question.
See also
Published: 10 November 2013
Last Updated: 27 November 2021