HMO licensing in Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Whether a rented home in Stoke-on-Trent needs a licence depends on how many people share it.

• Mandatory HMO licensing covers HMOs where 5 or more people live as two or more households, anywhere in the city.^[29]
• Additional HMO licensing for smaller HMOs is not in force. In August 2026 the council proposed a city-wide scheme, subject to the outcome of a statutory consultation.^[19]
• Selective licensing of homes let to a single household is not in force. The council's schemes in parts of Fenton and Cobridge ended on 4 August 2019.^[19]

A smaller HMO, shared by 3 or 4 people, needs no licence at present, but the council says the landlord must still meet the council's amenity and fire safety standards.^[19]

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.^[29]

Stoke-on-Trent does not publish its HMO register online. You can ask for an electronic copy through the council's register request form, for a £25 administration charge, and it may take up to five days to arrive. To see the full register, including licence holders' details, the council offers an appointment at its Civic Centre offices.^[23]

1. Ask the council for a copy of its register. HMO register request (opens in new tab)^[23]
2. Ask the licensing team in writing. Ask the HMO team (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.^[31]
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.^[34]
4. Report it if you think it should be licensed. Report a suspected unlicensed HMO through the council's online form (opens in new tab), which can be anonymous, or call 01782 232087.^[27] Ask for a reference number and keep the reply.

Stoke-on-Trent bases its licence conditions on its own amenity standards for HMOs, and publishes separate fire safety standards. Among other things, the landlord must:

• have the fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years, and a gas safety check every year
• provide one set of kitchen facilities, and one bathroom and toilet, for every five occupants
• keep rooms above the council's minimum sizes
• have a fire risk assessment, and fit the smoke alarms, emergency lighting and fire doors the fire safety standards require^[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.^[32]
• 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 Stoke-on-Trent the first test is size: only an HMO shared by 5 or more people from two or more households needs a licence. A smaller HMO, or a home let to one household, needs no licence. The council also says it cannot act under HMO law on a large family home, or on a home outside the city boundary.^[19][23]

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. Ask the HMO team (opens in new tab). Ask Stoke-on-Trent 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.^[34]
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.^[35] 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.