City-wide HMO Additional Licensing scheme live
A new city-wide Additional Licensing Scheme for smaller Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) is now live.
The scheme covers HMOs of 2 or more storeys with 3 or 4 occupiers.
Property owners and managing agents need to complete our online HMO Additional Licensing application forms, which are available now.
We estimate the Additional HMO Licensing scheme will apply to around 2,200 properties across the city.
HMOs with 5 or more occupiers over 2 or more households are covered the Mandatory HMO Licensing Scheme.
Property licensing
Additional and selective licensing are schemes local authorities can introduce to address issues such as poor management standards and poor property conditions.
A Selective Licensing Scheme for certain private rented homes in the Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park and Whitehawk & Marina wards is also being introduced in September.
The introduction of the 2 schemes was agreed at the Housing & New Homes Committee on 13 March 2024, to support improvements in the standard of private rented accommodation in the city.
While many landlords run their properties responsibly, issues reported through the council show that management, standards and quality of private rented homes are not consistent.
The aim is to drive improvement in conditions and management standards in the city’s expanding private rented housing sector, with over a third of households in the city renting privately.
The previous 5-year term of the city-wide Additional HMO Licensing Scheme ended in 2023. This scheme covered around 1,900 HMOs across the city and allowed us to work closely with landlords to improve properties.
A number of licence conditions were set through the scheme, resulting in improvements made to management, building and safety standards that benefitted around 5,500 tenants.
We’ve been contacting owners and managers of properties licensed under the previous scheme to update them about the introduction of the new scheme.
All licensed HMOs need to meet our HMO Licensing Standards.
Further information
- Visit our property licensing pages for further details of Additional HMO Licensing, Selective Licensing and Mandatory HMO Licensing in Brighton & Hove.