HMO management means a manager runs a house shared by three or more tenants from different households on your behalf: filling each room, holding the licence, keeping the property safe and collecting every tenant's rent. We do all of it for 12–20% of the gross rent.
What's included
- Room lettings: marketing, viewings, referencing and right to rent checks for every room, and an individual tenancy for each tenant.
- Licensing: we check which scheme applies, prepare and submit the application, meet the licence conditions and diary the renewal.
- Fire safety: fire risk assessment, alarms, fire doors and escape routes checked and kept in order.
- Rent collection: from every tenant, every month, with arrears chased the same week.
- House management: house rules, cleaning rotas, bills arrangements and disputes between sharers.
- Maintenance: 24-hour repair reporting and vetted contractors, at cost, with no mark-up.
- Reporting: one monthly statement with income, costs, occupancy and compliance dates.
Which HMO licence you need
A property is an HMO when three or more people from two or more households share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Whether it needs a licence depends on its size and its borough:
| Licence | Who needs it | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory HMO | Five or more people from two or more households | Everywhere in England |
| Additional HMO | Smaller HMOs, usually three or four sharers | Boroughs with a scheme, such as Brent, Ealing and Barnet |
| Selective | Ordinary single-household lets | Designated wards, such as six wards in Harrow |
Getting it wrong is expensive. Councils can now issue civil penalties of up to £40,000 for serious or repeat breaches, and tenants can claim back up to 24 months' rent through a Rent Repayment Order under the Renters' Rights Act (source).
Room sizes and HMO standards
Licensed HMOs must meet national minimum bedroom sizes: 6.51 square metres for one adult and 10.22 square metres for two, with any floor area under 1.5 metres of ceiling height left out of the measurement. Councils add their own standards for kitchens, bathrooms and amenities through licence conditions.
The manager of any HMO, licensed or not, also has legal duties under the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006: keeping fire escapes clear, maintaining common parts, water, gas and electricity supplies, and displaying the manager's contact details. When you appoint us, those duties sit with us day to day.
Keeping rooms full
Voids are what kill HMO returns. We start marketing a room six weeks before the tenant's notice ends, reference every applicant properly and match new sharers to the existing household. A house that gets on is a house where people stay.
The Renters' Rights Act and HMOs
Since 1 May 2026, room tenancies in an HMO are periodic, with no fixed end date, and Section 21 can no longer be used. Rent can rise once a year with two months' notice. There is a specific possession ground for student HMOs, Ground 4A, which needs four months' notice and advance warning at the start of the tenancy. Our Renters' Rights Act guide covers the rest.