HMO licensing in Hull City Council

Whether a rented home in Hull needs a licence turns on one test: how many people share it. The council's HMO pages describe the national mandatory scheme and no local scheme on top.

• Mandatory HMO licensing applies anywhere in the city to a home occupied by 5 or more people who form more than one household and share a bathroom or kitchen.^[30] The council says a home must meet all three tests to need a licence.^[23]
• Additional HMO licensing, which some councils use for smaller HMOs of 3 or 4 sharers, is not in force: the council's pages describe no such scheme.^[23]
• Selective licensing, for homes let to a single household, is not in force either.

Smaller HMOs still have to meet national management rules, and the council's planning rules restrict new HMOs in several inner-city areas — a planning control, not a licence.^[23]

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.^[30]

Hull City Council does not publish its register of licensed HMOs online. It will check for free whether a single address is licensed if you send the address through its private housing enquiries form. It also sells a copy of its list of licensed HMOs for £55.50. The council says that list does not include homes whose licence applications are still being processed.^[27]

1. Ask the council to check the address — it is free. Ask Hull City Council to check an address (opens in new tab)^[27]
2. Ask the licensing team in writing. Email the HMO licensing team. 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.^[32]
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.^[35]
4. Report it if you think it should be licensed. Report a suspected unlicensed HMO through the council's private housing enquiries form (opens in new tab) or by emailing HMO.licensing@hullcc.gov.uk.^[23] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

The council says a Hull HMO licence lasts five years unless it is revoked. It charges a second fee after accepting an application, to pay for checks on the property during the licence.^[25]

The council's licensing standards follow the national minimum bedroom sizes where there is a suitably sized shared living room, and its own locally adopted sizes where there is not.

Every HMO in Hull, licensed or not, must:

• have adequate fire precautions, and a fire risk assessment for that address if it is licensed
• meet the council's amenity standards and be of an adequate size
• have its electrical installation checked by a competent electrician at least every five years^[25]

• 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.^[33]
• 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.

Count the sharers first: Hull licenses only HMOs of 5 or more people from more than one household who share a bathroom or kitchen.^[30] The council says a licence cannot be transferred to a new owner, so a home that changed hands may need a new one. Ask it in writing when any licence began and ended.^[23][27]

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. Email the HMO licensing team. Ask Hull City Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[23]
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.^[35]
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.^[36] 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.