Additional HMO licensing in Worcester

What the designation says

Worcester operates an additional HMO licensing scheme covering the entire city. The council designated the whole of the City of Worcester on 21 May 2025, replacing and widening two earlier designations that between them covered only part of the city: one running from 1 September 2020 over St John, St Clement, Bedwardine, Cathedral and Arboretum, and one from 6 September 2023 over Battenhall, Claines, Gorse Hill, Nunnery, Rainbow Hill, St Peters, St Stephens, Warndon, Warndon Parish North and Warndon Parish South. Both of those ended on 31 August 2025. The current designation came into force on 1 September 2025 and lasts five years, until 31 August 2030. Because the scheme is now city-wide, an address anywhere in Worcester is within it, which is a change from the ward-based schemes that preceded it. 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.

Worcester's own licensing page →