Additional HMO licensing in Portsmouth

What the designation says

Portsmouth operates an additional licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation, made under a designation dated August 2024 and drawn city-wide so that tenants in every HMO are covered rather than only those in a designated district. It extends licensing to shared properties outside the national mandatory regime, typically those let to three or four people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, and the council operates a separate additional licence for section 257 HMOs — converted blocks of flats where the conversion did not meet the Building Regulations in force at the time — with its own fee scale. Mandatory HMO licensing continues to apply separately wherever a property is let to five or more people in two or more households. Fees are charged in two parts: an application fee, then a licence issue fee payable within 14 days of the notice of intention to grant, which covers issuing the licence and running and enforcing the scheme. The council notes it may not profit from licence fees. Applications involve either a verification inspection or a desktop survey, after which a draft licence is issued for comment alongside the request for the second payment.

What this means for a landlord

A licence must be in place before the property is let, not applied for afterwards. Operating unlicensed in a designated area is a criminal offence: a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and a section 21 notice that cannot be served while the property is unlicensed. Mandatory HMO licensing applies separately and everywhere, wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.

Portsmouth's own licensing page →