HMO licensing in Southampton City Council

Which licence a rented home in Southampton needs depends on who lives there and where it is.

• Mandatory HMO licensing covers HMOs where 5 or more people live as two or more households, anywhere in the city, except flats in purpose-built blocks of three or more flats.^[28] Those flats fall under the additional scheme only in the nine designated wards.^[20]
• Additional HMO licensing covers smaller HMOs, of 3 or 4 people from two or more households, and HMOs in purpose-built blocks of flats, in nine wards. It runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2030.^[20]
• Selective licensing, for homes let to a single household, does not apply: the council runs no selective scheme.^[20]

The council says a home with a resident landlord can have up to two lodgers without becoming an HMO. With three or more, it is an HMO; whether it needs a licence depends on the occupancy, building type and ward rules above.^[20][28]

Homes let by a council or housing association are exempt from the additional scheme.^[20]

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.^[28]

The nine wards in the additional licensing area.^[20]

• Banister and Polygon
• Bargate
• Bassett
• Bevois
• Freemantle
• Millbrook
• Portswood
• Shirley
• Swaythling

Southampton publishes its public register as a downloadable list of fully licensed HMOs, updated from time to time and dated on its first line. It gives each home's address, licence type, licence dates and the maximum number of occupiers. A home whose application is still being processed will not appear, so a missing entry is a reason to ask the council in writing, not proof of an offence.^[23]

1. Download the council's current register list (PDF). Public register of licensed HMOs (PDF) (opens in new tab)^[23]
2. Search the exact address. Save a dated screenshot or download of the result. Councils must keep a register of licences, temporary exemption notices and management orders and make it available for inspection.^[30]
3. Ask about applications and exemptions. A missing entry is a reason to investigate, not proof of an offence, so ask whether a licence, application or exemption covered the dates you rented there.^[33]
4. Report or ask in writing. HMO licensing contact form (opens in new tab). Report a home you think should be licensed through the council's HMO contact form, or call its licensing team on 023 8083 3006.^[27] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Southampton sets its own standards for HMOs, and the council or an independent HMO surveyor inspects a home before it is licensed. The council's standards guidance covers:

• enough bathrooms, toilets and kitchens for the number of people living there
• rooms of a reasonable size
• fire precautions, with the landlord producing a fire risk assessment for each HMO
• safe gas and electrical installations, with current certificates

A licence can carry specific conditions where a home falls short of the standards, which must then be met within a reasonable time.^[24]

• 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.^[31]
• 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.

The additional scheme started on 1 October 2025, the earliest date it covers for smaller HMOs in the nine wards. For earlier periods, ask the council what applied. Save a dated copy of the register list you searched.^[22]

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. HMO licensing contact form (opens in new tab). Ask Southampton City Council whether an effective application or temporary exemption existed and when it took effect.^[27]
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.^[33]
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.^[34] 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.