Multiple Occupation: Licensing

(asked on 26th June 2025) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will introduce legislation to mandate a national licensing scheme for all Houses of Multiple Occupancy.


Answered by
Matthew Pennycook Portrait
Matthew Pennycook
Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
This question was answered on 4th July 2025

All Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) where five or more people from two or more households share facilities, such as a kitchen and/or a bathroom, are subject to mandatory HMO licensing.

Following consultation, local authorities can also introduce additional licensing, where smaller HMOs shared by three or four people from two or more households who share facilities are required to hold a licence.

The government has no current plans to mandate a national licensing scheme for all HMOs.

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