Landlord licensing in Bedford

Required for any HMO let to 5 or more people forming 2+ households who share facilities.

No active selective licensing scheme in Bedford. In January 2023 Bedford Borough Council Executive considered six options for renewing its discretionary licensing arrangements, including Option 6 which would have replaced additional licensing with a borough-wide or ward-based selective licensing scheme. The Executive chose Option 2 instead — renewal of the borough-wide additional HMO licensing designation — on the basis that this was the option best targeted at protecting tenants in HMOs (which were identified as having the highest tenant risk due to high turnover and short tenancies). Landlords renting privately rented single-family or single-household properties in Bedford are not required to obtain a selective licence regardless of which ward the property is located in.

Bedford does not currently operate an additional licensing scheme. The council's designation ran from 17 May 2018 to 16 May 2023 and has expired, so no new additional licence is required. Licences granted under that scheme were issued for five years and some remain valid until as late as 20 May 2028, which means a landlord may still hold a live additional licence even though the designation behind it has ended — holding one is not evidence that the scheme is still running. Smaller shared houses let to three or four people forming two or more households are therefore outside HMO licensing in Bedford unless a new designation is made. Only the national mandatory regime applies: a licence is required where a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. The published additional fee under the former scheme was £805.90 plus £80.25 per bedroom.