Additional HMO licensing in West Northamptonshire

What the designation says

West Northamptonshire operates an additional HMO licensing scheme that took effect on 24 February 2025 and runs for five years. It applies to properties occupied by three or four people forming two or more households, which mandatory licensing does not reach. The designated area covers the area of the council's previous 2020 to 2025 additional licensing scheme, which ended on 31 January 2025, together with further areas in Northampton and Daventry. The council introduced it to address inadequate maintenance, fire safety concerns and general property conditions in shared housing, and the effects of poorly managed HMOs on the surrounding community. Because the scheme covers designated areas rather than the whole district, an address should be checked against the designation rather than assumed from its postcode. Mandatory HMO licensing continues to apply separately wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.

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.

West Northamptonshire's own licensing page →