Apply for a house of multiple occupation licence (HMO)

A HMO can be a property (house or flat) that is lived in by people not from the same family. However, they may share facilities like a bathroom and kitchen. 

You will need a HMO licence if you answer 'yes' to the following:

✔ do you privately rent a property within the Guildford Borough?

✔ is the property occupied by five or more unrelated people? Include children and babies

✔ do two or more separate households live in the property? For example: families or married couples

✔ do your occupants share a bathroom, kitchen or a toilet?

When a licence is not needed

If there are three or four unrelated tenants living in the property that share facilities, this is still a HMO. This property will not need a HMO licence from us.

These HMOs are still subject to The HMO Management Regulations 2006 (opens new window) and The Housing Act 2004 (opens new window).

Will tacit consent apply?

No. Tacit consent is where the applicant can act as though the licence is granted if they have not heard from us. This does not apply to HMO licensing. However, you can still operate a HMO whilst we look at your application. We will aim to respond to your application within 10 working days. 

Fees

The fee for this licence is £939.40

• discount of £25 if applicant is a member of a recognised landlord organisation
• discount of £50 if applicant is an accredited Landlord of the Guildford Letting Scheme

Both discounts cannot be applied at the same time.

If you are currently undertaking property alterations to a HMO prior to making a HMO application, contact us to discuss if we are able to provide you with desktop advice or a pre-application visit.

You can call us on 01483 505050, ask to speak to the housing standards team or email regulatoryservices@guildford.gov.uk.

If you have a pending HMO application, we will look at how we can deal with this remotely.