Run an HMO room by room
Each room’s tenancy, rent and deposit deadline in one place, and the building’s licence and checks kept with their dates.
What LetSorted does, and what it does not
LetSorted does not decide whether your property is an HMO or whether it needs a licence. Both turn on facts only you and your council have. We record what you tell us, keep the dates, and remind you when something is due.
What you get
- Choose HMO as the property type and answer one question: one agreement for the whole property, or one for each room. You can change it later.
- Let room by room, each bedroom on your room list becomes a room you let. Each has its own tenant, rent, deposit and tenant portal. A tenant sees only their own rent.
- Each room’s deposit shows its own “Protect by” date, counted from the day you received it (or from the tenancy start until you add that day), and the property page names any room whose deposit you have not recorded as protected.
- Building records: your council’s licensing answer, recorded as your answer; your licence document, with a reminder before it expires; and dated checks for escape routes and fire equipment, the shared areas, water and drainage, waste, and the manager’s details on display. Each check keeps its history, so an earlier date is never overwritten.
- Move-in and move-out inspections for each room, a record of the shared areas, and periodic inspections of the whole building.
- Building duties, such as gas, electrics and the licence, are tracked once for the building. Tenancy duties, such as the deposit and the rent, are tracked for each room.
Pricing: £2.99 a month per unit. A property let as a whole is one unit. A property let room by room has one unit for each bedroom on its room list, whether or not that room has a tenant. Your earliest unit, across all your properties, is free.
The law, in brief
England only. Correct as at 13 October 2026. For the detail, read our HMO licence guide.
What makes a property an HMO
The Housing Act 2004 sets out tests, not a number of people. A building or part of one can be a house in multiple occupation under the standard test (s.254(2)), the self-contained flat test (s.254(3)) or the converted building test (s.254(4)); a council can declare one (s.255); and some converted blocks of flats are HMOs under s.257.
The standard test turns on people living in more than one household. A household is about relationship: people are one household only if they are family, such as a couple or relatives (s.258). Four unrelated sharers are four households, even on one joint tenancy.
It does not depend on how you let it. One agreement for the whole house or one for each room — the test is the same.
Whether you need a licence
Mandatory licensing covers an HMO occupied by five or more people living in two or more separate households, that meets one of the s.254 tests, with an exception for some flats in purpose-built blocks (Housing Act 2004 s.55(2)(a); SI 2018/221 art 4, in force since 1 October 2018). That is a licensing threshold, not the definition of an HMO.
Your council may also run an additional licensing scheme for other HMOs in its area (s.56), or a selective licensing scheme for privately rented homes in a designated area, which is not limited to HMOs (ss.79–80; an HMO that needs a licence under the mandatory or additional scheme is licensed under that one instead, s.85(1)). Only your council can tell you what applies to your property: find your council’s HMO licensing on GOV.UK. A licence lasts at most five years.
What the manager must do
The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 put duties on whoever manages the HMO. In outline: give every occupier the manager’s name and contact details and display them (reg 3); keep escape routes clear and in good repair, and fire alarms and firefighting equipment in working order (reg 4); maintain the water supply and drainage (reg 5), the gas and electricity supply (reg 6), the shared areas, fixtures and appliances (reg 7) and each occupier’s accommodation (reg 8); and provide for waste disposal (reg 9).
Notices showing the escape routes must be displayed, except in an HMO occupied by four or fewer people (reg 4(3) and (6)). The regulations do not apply to a converted block of flats that is an HMO under s.257 (reg 1). They describe outcomes, not products: they name no door rating, alarm grade or number of extinguishers.
Room sizes in a licensed HMO
A licensed HMO’s licence must include minimum floor areas for rooms used for sleeping (Housing Act 2004 Sch.4 para 1A, since 1 October 2018): 6.51 m² for one person over 10, 10.22 m² for two people over 10, and 4.64 m² for one person under 10. A room under 4.64 m² must not be used for sleeping at all. These are licence conditions, so they apply to licensed HMOs. Amenity standards, such as bathrooms per person, are set by each council; there is no national table.
Letting room by room is a choice
You can let an HMO on one agreement or give each room its own. If each room has its own tenancy, each deposit needs its own protection: the scheme’s requirements met and the prescribed information given within 30 days beginning with the day that deposit was received (Housing Act 2004 s.213(3) and (6)). Eight rooms let on eight agreements means eight deposit deadlines.
The same arithmetic applies to rent reviews and notice periods: each tenancy runs its own, independently of the others.
What it costs to get it wrong
Controlling or managing an HMO that needs a licence and does not have one is an offence (Housing Act 2004 s.72(1)). Since 1 May 2026 a superior landlord can be caught too (s.72(1)(b)).
- A civil penalty of up to £40,000 instead of prosecution (s.249A(4), since 1 May 2026) — correct as at 13 October 2026.
- A Rent Repayment Order of up to 24 months’ rent (Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.44, since 1 May 2026) — correct as at 13 October 2026.
Read the detail
This is a summary of the law, not legal advice for your property. Sources: legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK, checked on 13 October 2026.
Every room, every deadline, one place
Your first unit is free. No credit card required.Tenant screening, tenancy agreements we draft and evidence packs are paid per use