London Borough of Hounslow

You do not need a licence if you rent your property to a single family as Hounslow Council do not operate a selective licensing scheme. 

If you rent out your property as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), the answer is a bit more complicated. Hounslow Council operate the mandatory HMO licensing scheme that applies throughout England.

The council had an additional licensing scheme which ended on 31 May 2019. A replacement additional licensing scheme started on 1 August 2020.
 
To help you decide if you need a licence, we’ve outlined the two licensing schemes below:

1. Mandatory HMO licensing

You will need a mandatory HMO licence if your property meets the standard test, self-contained flat test or converted building test HMO definition in section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 and is occupied by five or more people.

But what are these tests and what does this mean in practice? It means you need a licence for any house or flat that is occupied by five or more people who are not all related and live in the property as their main home. For example, it includes:

• Shared houses and flats occupied by students and young professionals;
• Properties converted into bedsits with some shared facilities; and
• Properties converted into a mixture of self-contained and non self-contained accommodation.

Prior to 1 October 2018, the mandatory HMO licensing scheme only applied to properties that were three or more storeys in height, but that restriction has now been lifted.

The government have decided to exclude purpose built self-contained flats within a block comprising three or more self-contained flats from the mandatory HMO licensing scheme. While this will be good news for some landlords, it does make the licensing scheme far more complicated.

To find out more, you can read our free guide to mandatory HMO licensing (here).   

2. Additional licensing

A replacement additional licensing scheme started on 1 August 2020 and continues for five years until 31 July 2025. You can view the public notice in the ‘More Information’ box on the right of this webpage.

The scheme applies borough wide to most HMOs shared by three or more people who are not all related. However, it is worth noting the council have excluded multi-occupied purpose-built flats situated in a block comprising three or more self-contained flats.

The council have included ‘section 257 HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats’ in the scheme. These are properties that:

• have been converted into self-contained flats; and
• less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied; and
• the conversion did not comply with the relevant Building Regulations in force at that time and still does not comply.

The council have simplified things slightly by restricting the licensing of section 257 HMOs to situations where all the units are privately rented and the building and all the flats within it are either in the same ownership or considered to be effectively in the same control. This is a complex area of law and you may need further advice.

Hounslow Council charge a standard HMO licensing fee of £1,315 (was £1,275 in 2021/22, £1,250 in 2020/21, £1,190 in 2018/19, £1,123 in 2017/18, £1,069.36 in 2015/16 & £1,046.34 in 2014/15) regardless of the size of the property.

There is a £85 discount if if you are a member of the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme, a recognised landlord association or a relevant professional body. It is good to see accredited landlords being charged a lower licence fee.

The fees are correct as of April 2023 but could be subject to change in the future. You can view the latest fees on the council’s website.

The council have an online application system which can be accessed from the council’s website.

If you need assistance with your licence application, you can find companies offering a licence application handling service in our Landlord Suppliers Directory (here). Whilst we do handle some applications, we have limited capacity and specialise in more complex cases where we provide our clients with expert advice and assistance.

It is important to remember that submitting a licence application is only the start of the licence approval process. To help landlords understand what happens next, we have published a free guide here.

Yes, Hounslow Council have published HMO standards that can be downloaded from the council’s website.

The standards cover a range of issues such as kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities, fire precautions, heating, lighting and ventilation.

It is important to note that new absolute minimum bedroom sizes for licensed HMOs have been introduced for HMO licence applications approved on or after 1 October 2018:

• 4.64m2 for a child under 10 years old
• 6.51m2 for one person over 10 years old
• 10.22m2 for two people over 10 years old

The council can still ask for larger minimum sizes. These new minimum sizes apply throughout England to HMOs licensed under a mandatory HMO or additional licensing scheme.

In February 2015, Hounslow Council told us they had licensed 326 HMOs under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme and a further 261 under the additional licensing scheme.

By December 2016, the council told us the number of licensed properties under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme had reduced to 306, while the number of properties licensed under the additional licensing scheme had increased to 362. In total, there were 668 licensed properties.

In May 2018, there were 828 properties licensed HMOs listed on the public register.

In May 2019, the council told us they had licensed 1,078 HMOs, 460 under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme and 618 under the additional licensing scheme.

In May 2021, there were 1,147 properties licensed HMOs listed on the public register and by April 2022 that number had fallen slightly to 1,120.

Hounslow Council keeps a public register of all licensed properties that is regularly updated and can be viewed on the council’s website.

Well, it seems like there may be quite a few. In February 2015, Hounslow Council told us that they think 500 to 700 properties need licensing under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme with another 2,000 properties covered by their additional licensing scheme. That suggests there could be well over 1,000 unlicensed properties still out there.

If you are the landlord of a licensable but unlicensed property in Hounslow, you need to act now to avoid the consequences.

Ignore the law and you could pay a heavy price. You risk being prosecuted by the Council and if found guilty you could get a criminal record, be fined an unlimited amount and ordered to pay court costs and a victim surcharge.

Alternatively, the council can issue you with a civil penalty notice of up to £30,000 for not having the correct licence without any warning being given, so this is really serious stuff.  

You could also be subject to a Rent Repayment Order and may have to repay up to 12 months rental income.

Whilst the property is unlicensed, you can’t use a Notice of Seeking Possession under Section 21 Housing Act 1988 to evict your tenants. 
  
And following a successful prosecution, you would probably fail a fit and proper person assessment, making it very difficult for you to obtain a property licence in the future.

Don’t put your livelihood and reputation at risk. Make sure you comply with the law.

Hounslow Council told us they took seven housing prosecutions in the three year period from April 2011 to March 2014. A further six prosecutions took place in 2014/15 and five prosecutions in 2015/16, so they are clearly stepping up their enforcement activity.

Hounslow Council did not obtain any Rent Repayment Orders from the landlords of unlicensed HMOs over the five years from April 2011 to March 2016, according to data published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 

For all the latest information, you can search for housing prosecutions on the Mayor of London’s ‘Rogue landlord and agent checker’, available here.

There are landlord accreditation schemes operated by the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme, the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA).  

Whilst we don’t have any figures for the NLA or RLA schemes, we have got information about the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme that is supported by all the London Boroughs. In January 2016, they told us there were 398 accredited landlords in Hounslow, which was below average when compared with all London boroughs.

January 2018: 518 accredited landlords
January 2019: 533 accredited landlords
January 2020: 593 accredited landlords
January 2021: 652 accredited landlords
January 2022: 1,190 accredited landlords

By January 2023 there were 1,230 accredited landlords, which is slightly below average when compared to all the London boroughs. To find out more about becoming accredited, you can visit the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme website here.

In addition to training and development, accredited landlords are entitled to various benefits, including discounted licensing fees in some boroughs. If you are not already a member, we would encourage you to think about joining!

Before the previous additional licensing scheme ended on 31 May 2019, Hounslow Council consulted on plans for a replacement scheme from  23 January to 3 April 2019 (read here).

The additional licensing scheme was approved at the Cabinet meeting on 9 July 2019, a scheme designation was made on the 1 August 2019 and the scheme was due to come into force on the 1 November 2019.

However, the Residential Landlords Association and safeagent raised concerns about deficiencies in the consultation process and threatened to lodge a Judicial Review. As a result, on 6 September 2019 the council announced they were withdrawing the scheme designation.

A further licensing consultation took place from 18 October to 27 December 2019 (read here). 

On 17 March 2020, the council’s Cabinet approved plans for a new additional licensing scheme (read here - agenda item 17) and the scheme came into force on 1 August 2020. 

There is clearly a lot happening at Hounslow and for all the latest news you can sign up to our free newsletter.

You will need planning permission if you are changing your property from a single-family property to a house in multiple occupation (HMO) occupied by more than six people. HMOs occupied by more than six people fall within ‘sui-generis’ use for which planning permission is required. You will also need planning permission if you a splitting up a property into smaller self-contained units of accommodation.

For small HMOs, the rules are a bit more complicated. HMOs occupied and shared by between three and six people fall into planning use class C4 whereas single-family properties fall into planning use class C3.

On 6 July 2022, Hounslow Council announced plans to implement a non-immediate HMO Article 4 Direction throughout most of the borough. The effect of the Article 4 Direction would be to remove permitted development rights so that planning permission is required to change a property from a single-family home (C3) to an HMO with up to six occupants (class C4). The council consulted on the proposal from 15 July to 9 September 2022. Subject to confirmation, the non-immediate Article 4 Direction will come into force on 30 July 2023.

At present, the only HMO Article 4 Direction in Hounslow came into force on 12 January 2018 and is restricted to the Hanworth Ward. Details of the current and proposed Directions and how to take part in the consultation, can be found on the council’s website. The changes are not retrospective and so properties converted prior to that date will not be affected.

Remember that this is only intended as general advice and no liability can be accepted for any reliance upon information provided. We would strongly encourage you to contact the Council’s Planning Department or seek independent legal advice before you start a new HMO development.

We certainly can. We understand the challenges of being a private landlord and so we have developed a Landlord Suppliers Directory to provide you with access to the goods and services you need. The Directory concentrates on businesses that operate in the London area.

Whether you a looking for a letting agent, want a property inventory for a new tenancy or fire risk assessment, we have got it covered – and far more besides!

As the leading experts in property licensing, we also offer a range of services ourselves. From handling the licence application process to advice on new HMO developments, we can help to ensure your property business remains compliant. If you need assistance, please drop us a line and see if we can help! 

New suppliers are regularly being added and we would encourage you to take a look. Some of our featured listings also contain YouTube videos, helping you to find out more about the business. 

You can contact the council at: 

HMO Licensing Team
Hounslow Council
Civic Centre
Lampton Road
Hounslow
TW3 4DN

Email: housing.enforcement@hounslow.gov.uk
Tel:    020 8583 2000
Website: www.hounslow.gov.uk