The Housing Act 2004 introduced “property licensing” from 2006 to ensure private rented homes are well managed. A named “licence holder” is required for each property.
Mandatory Licensing for HMOs
- All houses that have five (5) or more occupants from two or more households who share facilities
- Houses that meet the “buildings converted partly into self-contained flats” that have five (5) or more occupants
- Flats that have five (5) or more occupants from two or more households who share facilities but is not a purpose-built flat situated in a block comprising three or more self-contained flats.
Additional Licensing for HMOs
Oxford City Council decided on 10 March 2021 to introduce a new designation for Additional Licensing to cover the whole City. This scheme started on 10 June 2021. This means all HMOs in Oxford will require an HMO licence from 10 June 2021.
See our Additional Licensing for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) page for more information.
HMO licence conditions
All HMO licences are issued with the same standard conditions. We inspect all HMOs before they are first licensed to ensure the HMO meets minimum requirements and are compliant with management regulations. If they are not, we will add conditions to the licence to require landlords to undertake works within a set time frame.
Inspections
During an inspection, the officer will look at the exterior of the property, yards / gardens / forecourts, outbuildings and all rooms inside the property. The officer will make notes and will take photographs to record the conditions on the day.
Inspections are undertaken before a new HMO licence is issued and then compliance inspections are undertaken to ensure work is completed.
We re-inspect HMOs on a proactive basis to ensure the property is being well managed.
Where a complaint is received, we normally re-inspect.
Officers will normally give written notice to the landlord, agent and occupants unless there has been a complaint and the nature of the complaint indicates a serious offence has occurred. In this case, the Housing Act 2004 permits officers to visit without giving notice.
The officer will need to be accompanied either by the landlord / agent or a tenant. Landlords or agents must give their tenants 24 hours notice of their intention to come to the inspection. Tenants are permitted to refuse a landlord entry to their room or property. If the complaint has been received by a tenant or neighbour, the officer may wish to speak to this person confidentially and ask the landlord or agent to remain outside the property or outside the room.
Planning Permission
In Oxford, all HMOs must have the relevant planning permission – either C4 use (small HMO 3 to 6 people) or sui generis use (large HMO - 7 plus people). This is a separate legal requirement to a licence.
