Licensing for houses in multiple occupation

Mandatory licensing

Check whether your property meets the definition of a house in multiple occupation.

If you own or manage an HMO that is occupied by five or more tenants from more than one household, you will need to apply for a mandatory HMO licence.

Private registered providers of social housing are exempt from HMO licensing requirements.

If you plan to provide food to your tenants, you must register as a food establishment business before applying for your HMO licence. We will not be able to approve or register your HMO licence until you secure your registration as a food establishment business.

Apply for a licence

As part of your application you will need to provide a plan of your property. You can download our guide to drawing a plan of a house to help with this.

You can see what documents you need to provide when you start the online application process.

We aim to consider valid applications within 42 days of receipt of all relevant information (including fee). If we are unable to consider your application within 42 days, we will contact you to let you know how when to expect an outcome.

Additional licensing

In some wards in the borough, different conditions apply to needing a licence.

You need a licence for an HMO that is occupied by three or more tenants from more than one household and is in any of these wards:

• Palfrey
• Paddock
• Pleck
• St Matthews

We are proposing to extend this additional licensing scheme to cover:

• Bentley and Darlaston North
• Birchills Leamore
• Blakenall
• Darlaston South
• Willenhall South

Find out more about wards with additional licensing and what to do if you have an HMO in any of these wards.

Inspections

We will usually inspect your property as part of the assessment of your HMO application. We look for significant hazards.

To do this we:

• use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System
• check for HMO Management Regulation breaches
• assess the property's overall suitability for occupation against the regulations and our HMO Amenity Standards

We use the information from inspections to:

• make our decision about your licence
• draft your licence conditions
• decide when our next inspection should be
• decide on any further actions that are needed

Fees and charges

Find out about fees and charges for licensed HMOs.

Standards for licensed HMOs

To grant a licence, we must be satisfied that you are a 'fit and proper' person to hold the licence.

We will consider:

• previous convictions linked to drugs, fraud, violence or discrimination
• whether you have broken any housing law
• whether you have failed in the past to manage HMOs in line with approved code of practice

The property must also meet our management standards. These include:

• valid gas safety certificate
• valid electrical installation report
• relevant fire detection and alarm certificate
• emergency lighting certificate
• an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of at least E.

You can read our guidance on managing your HMO for more information about management and property standards. You should also download the Walsall HMO amenity standards document to make sure you meet the current minimum property and management standards for your HMO property.

How long your licence is valid for

We grant HMO licences for up to 5 years. There are conditions attached to your licence.

It is solely our decision whether to grant the full 5 years.

We would normally only issue a licence for a 1 year period for all of the following cases:

• if your application follows an investigation made by Walsall Council
• if correct planning permission is required and has not been obtained
• if your application follows a written request made by us for you to apply
• if we believe the property should have been licensed previously

We will also consider reducing how long your licence is valid for in some circumstances:

• if there's a history of statutory enforcement action against the owner or manager within the last 4 years
• if the owner, licence holder or manager has unspent convictions other than those considered in the fit and proper person assessment
• if you apply to renew your licence and the conditions of the existing licence have not been met at any relevant time during the period of the licence
• if we receive your application for renewal after the original licence expired. This is in addition to incurring the cost of a new application
• if you apply to renew your licence and statutory enforcement action (Housing Act notices or Civil Penalty Fines) has been taken at any relevant time during the period of the existing licence.
• if we believe your property needs significant improvements before a licence can be considered

We reserve the right to take relevant legal action against landlords who fail to secure a relevant licence.

Our responsibility

Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004 provides for local authorities to licence houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in their areas.

Penalties

We have the right to take legal action if you fail to licence your HMO, or if you breach any of the licence conditions.

Failure to license a property, or a breach of licence conditions can lead to either:

• an unlimited fine upon prosecution, or
• civil Penalty Notice of up to £30,000

We also have the right, in certain circumstances, to apply for a Rent Repayment Order against you as the landlord. Your tenants also have this right.

Contact us

You can contact us for more information on HMO licensing.