HMO licensing information

HMO licensing

If you own or manage a HMO you will need a licence for the property. It is a criminal offence to operate a licensable HMO without a licence. Landlords who are caught operating a HMO without a licence may be fined or prosecuted.

 
The Gloucester City Council Designation of an Area for Additional Licensing of HMOs 2026 designation was made on 9 June 2026. This HMO licensing designation shall come into force on 21 September 2026.

View the Additional Licensing public notice -  Additional Licensing designation  

This city wide (all wards) additional licensing scheme applies to all HMOs within Gloucester that are occupied by 3 or more persons comprising 2 or more households and which fall within section 254 of the Act, but are not HMOs required to be licensed under the mandatory HMO licensing . This scheme also applies to relevant HMOs falling within section 257 of the Act, namely certain buildings converted into self-contained flats where the conversion did not comply with the appropriate Building Regulations in force at the time and still does not comply, and less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. 
 
Each HMO licence that is granted will come with specific conditions that the licence holder will be bound to comply with. Licences will be granted for a duration of up to 5 years. Failure to comply with the conditions of a HMO licence is an offence for each breach and may lead to enforcement action being taken.

Who can be a licence holder?

The proposed HMO licence holder should be the most appropriate person to hold a licence. This should be the person who is in control of the property for example, this would normally be the property owner or a manager with full management responsibility and who recieves the rent from the tenants. 

A licence can be issued to one person, or a limited company. It cannot be issued to a company name that is not a limited company.

There does need to be a connection between the proposed licence holder and the property. 

The licence holder should be located in the UK and ideally within reasonable travelling distance of the property. Alternatively, a local manager can be appointed as the named contact.
The license holder and those involved with the management of the property must be fit and proper to hold a licence.

Fit and Proper Person and Cause for Concern Assessment

The council must undertake checks to ensure that the proposed licence holder (and the manager, if different) is a fit and proper person. In deciding whether a person is fit and proper they must take into account:

• Any previous convictions involving fraud or other dishonesty, violence, drugs or specified sexual offences
• Contraventions of housing or landlord and tenant law
• Whether the person has practised unlawful discrimination
• Whether the person has acted otherwise than in accordance with any applicable code of practice approved under section 233.

Careful consideration will be given to an application or existing licence where a person who has made a fit and proper person declaration has contravened housing law or landlord and tenant law, evidence of poor management, previous history, prosecutions, simple cautions. 

The council will also consider whether the proposed licence holder has been previously:

• Refused an HMO licence
• Issued a reduced term HMO licence

The cause for concern test helps Gloucester City Council focus on landlords who may be causing problems. Good landlords have fewer checks, while landlords or agents who do not meet the required standards receive more support, monitoring, and action to action to improve their properties.

When granting a licence, the Council will also determine that suitable financial and management arrangements are in place for the management of the HMO and that the HMO is suitable for occupation by a specified number of tenants based on the minimum standards.

Licensing decisions will be guided by the Councils Enforcement and Regulation Policy and supporting Appendices.

HMO Licence Register

The council must maintain a public register of all the premises licensed as HMOs. A basic copy of the register is available to download below.

HMO Licensed Property Register

If you have any enquiries about a property which has been licensed or which you feel should be licensed and is not, please contact us.