Issue details

The Deputy Mayor submitted a report, on the Mayor’s behalf, for Executive’s consideration. The purpose of the report was to seek Executive approval for the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) fee structure and reviewed licensing process. 

Since 2006, Middlesbrough Council had delivered a statutory (mandatory) licensing scheme for HMOs occupied by five or more unrelated people who shared amenities such as a bathroom, kitchen or living space. This was a duty under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004. Owners of HMOs were required to submit a licence application and pay a fee. Environmental Health Officers then carried out an inspection of the property to check conditions met safety standards and good management arrangements were in place. Once granted a licence was usually issued for a five-year period. Currently, HMOs were only re-inspected during the five-year period if complaints were made by tenants or others regarding standards or management issues and regulatory action may be necessary.  On an annual basis gas safety and electrical safety certificates were required to be submitted to the local authority by the property owners.

HMOs provided more affordable single or double person accommodation and, due to Middlesbrough’s demographic, there was a considerable demand for this type of accommodation, particularly from the most vulnerable tenants. HMO accommodation was often used for emergency accommodation for the homeless. The number of HMOs had increased in recent years, providing more accommodation for a growing student market as well as meeting the need for low-cost single-person accommodation.

There were currently around 1,730 people living in around 245 licensed HMOs in Middlesbrough, the majority of these offered a compliant standard of accommodation. There were HMO properties that operated illegally without a licence. These only become known to officers when tenants made complaints or intelligence was shared between regulatory bodies, including review of Council tax records and information sharing with other agencies, such as the Fire Brigade. It was difficult to quantify the extent of unlicensed HMOs.

Local Authorities set their own fees to recover the costs of administrating and enforcing mandatory HMO licensing. The current fee structure (2024/2025) was £755.42 for HMOs with 5 bedrooms plus a further £24.98 for each additional bedroom.  This fee was for a five-year licence.