HMO licensing in Dudley Council

Whether a rented home in Dudley needs a licence depends on how many people share it.

• Mandatory HMO licensing covers homes rented to 5 or more people who form more than one household and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, anywhere in Dudley.^[34]
• Additional HMO licensing for smaller HMOs is not in force in Dudley.
• Selective licensing of homes let to a single household is not in force. In March 2024 a council committee asked officers to look into how it could be used in town-centre hotspots, but no scheme has been proposed.

Separately, since September 2023 a borough-wide planning rule (an Article 4 direction) has meant that turning a family house into a small HMO needs planning permission. That is a planning control, not a licence.^[25]

Subject to statutory exemptions, a large HMO shared by at least five people from more than one household needs a mandatory licence anywhere in England. The property licensing guide sets out the national tests that sit behind every local scheme.^[34]

Dudley Council keeps a register of HMO licences, but does not publish a searchable copy online. To check an address, call the Private Sector Housing duty desk on 01384 815118, from 9am to 5pm on weekdays; seeing the full register needs an appointment.^[29]

1. Ask the council to check its register. HMO register (by phone or appointment) (opens in new tab)^[29]
2. Ask the licensing team in writing. Private sector enforcement enquiry form (opens in new tab). Give the exact address and the dates you rented, and ask whether a licence, an application or a temporary exemption covered them. Councils must keep a register of licences, temporary exemption notices and management orders and make it available for inspection, so that duty holds even without an online register — a dated written answer is the record to keep.^[36]
3. Treat a "no licence" answer as a starting point. A missing entry is a reason to investigate, not proof of an offence, so ask which scheme applied on your dates and whether anything covered the property.^[39]
4. Report it if you think it should be licensed. Use the council's private sector enforcement enquiry form (opens in new tab), or call the Private Sector Housing duty desk on 01384 815118.^[32] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Dudley publishes its own HMO standards, which it expects in every HMO and which licensed HMOs must meet. Among other things, the landlord must:

• give each bedroom at least the minimum size: 6.51 square metres for one person aged over 10, 10.22 square metres for two, and never use a room under 4.64 square metres as a bedroom
• provide enough kitchens, bathrooms and toilets for the number of people sharing
• keep fire precautions and means of escape suitable, judged against national fire safety guidance
• not control shared heating, lighting or fire alarms through prepayment meters
• get a gas safety certificate every year, and have the fixed electrics checked every five years^[30]

• National conditions are the floor. Every licence carries the prescribed conditions on gas, electrics, alarms, tenancy terms and waste, and can last up to five years; the property licensing guide lists them in full.^[37]
• Compare the licence with reality. The register entry or licence may identify the manager, the permitted occupancy and property-specific conditions. Check those details against how the home is actually occupied and managed.
• Keep separate evidence of hazards. A licence does not establish continuing compliance. Report disrepair or an immediate safety risk separately, and keep photographs, messages and certificates.

In Dudley the first test is size: only an HMO rented to 5 or more people from more than one household needs a licence. A smaller HMO, or a home let to one household, needs no licence while no additional or selective scheme is in force.^[25][29]

1. Confirm the scheme and dates. Match the address, occupancy and rental period to the designation in force at the time.
2. Ask the council in writing. Private sector enforcement enquiry form (opens in new tab). Ask Dudley Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[32]
3. Check the legal position. An application, an exemption, a reasonable excuse or the identity of the person legally responsible (the "person managing or controlling" the property) can all affect whether an offence is proved.^[39]
4. Preserve the evidence. Keep the tenancy, rent payments, proof of occupation, dated searches and council correspondence.

For a licensing offence committed on or after the 1 May 2026 rule change, a tenant can ask the First-tier Tribunal for up to two years' rent, and normally has two years from the offence to apply. The tenant must prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and the tribunal decides any award from the statutory factors and evidence; recovery is never automatic.^[40] Older offence periods may be governed by earlier limits. Free housing advice is available from Shelter and Citizens Advice, and local law centres can help with tribunal cases.