UK Landlord Forum / Life

I'm a landlord with just a single property. I'd like to apply for an Additional HMO license. Does anyone know if it is straight forward to apply directly with the Government or if it is better to use a service like provided by hmolicensing.co.uk?

AFAIK, I think the service is very costly so just wondering if anyone has any experience on how the value for money is on such a service. A costly service is fair if they really take a lot of the hassle away but clearly it's not worth it if they do not a lot more than if I applied directly.

Thoughts?

I would not bother with that site, it appears to just be a lead gen website where they probably sell off your data for a price (never trust a website that does not have properly constructed Terms of Use and Privacy Policy stating exactly who you are dealing with).

To begin with you might want to read this pages on the main site:

https://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/hmo-landlord-legal-requirements-regulations/

and this one (when you get time) if you are new

https://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/landlord-guides/

There is also this site that is still a site that is trying to sell you something you may not need but at least has more information on it:

https://www.londonpropertylicensing.co.uk/additional-licensing/

In my opinion you are better to deal directly with your Local Council, it is they who enforce all HMO Licensing and who decide if they are going to have an Additional Scheme for certain areas of their Borough or even their whole domain.

Most Councils are desperate to have good relations with decent Landlords, some do seem to fund their whole Housing and Environmental departments with fees if you hit a penalty, so it is best to come to their attention for the right reason.

The Council have staff to help you and they will guide you through your obligations, obviously they will sometimes tell you to seek professionals, for example to make sure you get proper fire security.

Council Websites differ, so if your Council has very little information look at other Council sites to get your head around your obligations.  I have been dealing with Councils for more years than I would care to admit, there can be a political element to their overall policy, with shadows of legal and finance adding to the mix.

Your other post suggested you got Tenants into your property in May 2024, the fact that you say you would "like" to apply for an Additional HMO license is a bit strange because you usually do not have a choice if there is a scheme in place.  The Council is likely to go easy on you if you contact them sooner rather than later if you have a legal requirement to be licensed by such a scheme.

For example for Tower Hamlets you can see they decided to make all of their domain subject to additional licensing from 25 October 2023 and they started enforcing this from the 1 April 2024.

https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/housing/Private-tenants-landlords-and-homeowners/Private-Landlords/Additional_Licensing_Scheme.aspx

There are numerous pages on the side of that page, open each one in a new tab, read and bookmark them all.

This is their page on inspections so you have the beginnings of a todo list

https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/housing/Private-tenants-landlords-and-homeowners/Private-Landlords/inspections_of_hmos.aspx

Usually a call to your Local Council saying you have just found out about their additional licensing scheme and would like to start the process will prevent you being penalised, also it can protect you in some Rent Repayment claims if you have started your application.

It is always a good idea to look at other Council websites on the same subject to see if you missed something.

https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/housing/landlords-licensing/houses-multiple-occupation-hmos/additional-hmo-licensing

You can see that Lambeth offer a discount if you are a member of professional Landlord schemes such as NRLA and also they operate some exemptions, so you can ask the actual Council where your property is located if they offer any schemes.

and of course to get the "Tenant" view of the subject from the very helpful Shelter website

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/hmo_standards/hmo_licence_types_and_conditions

Quote from: wizzystar on November 25, 2024, 08:55:43 PMI'm a landlord with just a single property. I'd like to apply for an Additional HMO license. Does anyone know if it is straight forward to apply directly with the Government or if it is better to use a service like provided by hmolicensing.co.uk?

AFAIK, I think the service is very costly so just wondering if anyone has any experience on how the value for money is on such a service. A costly service is fair if they really take a lot of the hassle away but clearly it's not worth it if they do not a lot more than if I applied directly.

Thoughts?