Managing an HMO Yourself or Through a Letting Agent: The Real Comparison

An HMO earns more than a single let and takes more running. The question for most HMO landlords is not whether to use an agent at all. It is which parts of the work to hand over, and what that does and does not change. This guide covers landlords who run one to three HMOs, or who are about to buy one.

Correct as at 22 October 2026. England only.

What makes an HMO a different job

A single let is one tenancy, one deposit and one set of certificates. An HMO is one building with several households in it, and the work multiplies in some places but not others.

• Several tenancies. Where each room is let on its own tenancy, each one starts, renews and ends on its own dates. More tenancies means more move-ins, more move-outs and more referencing.
• Several deposits. Each room tenancy needs its own deposit protection within 30 days, each with its own start date (Housing Act 2004 s.213).
• Shared areas. The HMO management regulations put duties on the manager of any HMO in England, other than a converted block of flats under section 257. One of those duties is keeping the common parts in repair and in a safe, working condition. That is ongoing work, not a yearly check. Our guide to what the HMO management regulations require goes through each duty.
• Bills. In many HMOs the utilities and broadband are in the landlord's name and included in the rent, so meter readings, tariffs and supplier problems land with you.
• A licence with conditions. Where the HMO is licensed, the licence must include conditions requiring the licence holder to, among other things, produce a gas safety certificate to the council every year where gas is supplied, and give the occupiers a written statement of their terms (Housing Act 2004 Sch.4 para 1). Keeping each condition met, and being able to show it, is part of the job. Whether your HMO needs a licence, and which scheme applies, is covered in the HMO licence guide.

What the figures say

Two sets of figures are worth having in mind. Neither is official statistics.

Yield, running costs and how HMO landlords manage. The Mortgage Works, a buy-to-let lender, published figures from Pegasus Insight's Landlord Trends survey for Q1 2024 (published 14 June 2024):

• HMOs generated an average rental yield of 7.0%, against 5.8% for landlords without an HMO.
• HMOs cost an average of £21k a year more to manage than non-HMOs.
• 35% of HMO landlords used a letting agent on full management, and 48% of landlords without an HMO managed their own properties.

These are survey averages from 2024, before the Renters' Rights Act changes of 1 May 2026. Treat them as an indication, not as what your property will do.

Council inspections and enforcement. Just Landlords, an insurer, reported in April 2026 that its Freedom of Information requests to councils showed HMO licence applications rising from 41,162 to 57,725 since 2018. It also found council inspections of HMOs up 83% and enforcement up 180% over the same period. This is a company's research, it covers councils across the UK (not England alone), and we have not been able to read the underlying data. The direction it points in is what matters for this decision: an HMO is more likely to be inspected than it used to be, whoever manages it.

What an agent charges for an HMO

Ask for the agent's HMO rate in writing; it is often higher than the rate for a single let. Then ask what is charged on top: a new tenancy for each room, renewals, inspections and any work on the licence. On a percentage fee, the rent the percentage applies to is the total from every room, so the same percentage is a larger sum than on a single let.

For the general fee maths, and when an agent earns its fee on an ordinary let, see do you actually need a letting agent?

What an agent does not take off you

(General information, not legal advice.)

Using an agent changes who does the work. It does not take you out of the HMO offences. Where an HMO that must be licensed is not, the offence is committed by any person having control of or managing the HMO and by the landlord (Housing Act 2004 s.72(1) and (1A)). The "person managing" includes someone who receives the rents as agent (s.263(3)). The management regulations put their duties on "the manager", meaning the person managing the HMO, and failing to comply with them is an offence too (s.234(3)). Instead of prosecuting either offence, the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 on the person whose conduct it is (s.249A). So an agent who collects the rents can be liable alongside you, not instead of you. A rent repayment order is narrower still: it can only be made against a landlord or superior landlord (Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.40(1)), not against an agent acting for you. Whether you can recover anything from the agent afterwards depends on your agency agreement. Correct as at 22 October 2026.

A decision checklist

Work through these before keeping, dropping or appointing an agent.

1. How many HMOs, and where. One HMO twenty minutes away is a different job from three HMOs in three towns. Distance decides who lets a contractor in and who checks the shared areas.
2. Your time. Several tenancies mean more tenant contact, more turnover and more small repairs. Be honest about the hours you have each month.
3. The licence. Ask the agent which licence conditions they track, how they record that each one is met, and who keeps the gas certificate and the written statements the council can ask for.
4. HMO experience. Ask how many HMOs they manage, and how they handle the shared areas, room changes and bills in the landlord's name.
5. Who receives the rents. Under s.263(3) that is part of what makes someone the person managing. Know whether it will be you, the agent or both.
6. The middle ground. Some landlords pay an agent to find tenants for rooms and keep the management themselves. Others do the reverse. Price both against full management.

If you self-manage, you need a system that holds every date for the building and for each room, not a spreadsheet you update when you remember.

In LetSorted, each room has its own tenancy, rent and deposit, with a "Protect by" date counted from the day that deposit was received, and the building's licence and checks are kept once, for the building. See how LetSorted tracks an HMO.

The free Compliance Tracker builds a checklist for each property from a few answers, including the HMO licence, and can email you before a gas, EICR or EPC date falls due.

Want to see what full management costs you over time? The Letting Agent Cost Calculator is built for single lets. For an HMO, count it as one property and enter the total monthly rent from all its rooms as the average rent. Work out what your agent costs →

Frequently Asked Questions

Do HMO landlords use letting agents more than other landlords?

In Pegasus Insight's Landlord Trends survey for Q1 2024, as published by The Mortgage Works, 35% of HMO landlords used a letting agent on full management, and 48% of landlords without an HMO managed their own properties. It is a lender's survey, not official statistics, and it is from 2024.

If my agent manages the HMO, can the council act against the agent instead of me?

It can act against either of you, not one instead of the other. Where an HMO that must be licensed is not, Housing Act 2004 s.72(1) and (1A) make it an offence by any person having control of or managing the HMO and by the landlord, and s.263(3) counts someone who receives the rents as agent as the person managing. Using an agent adds a second person who can be liable. It does not remove you. Correct as at 22 October 2026.

How much does a letting agent charge to manage an HMO?

There is no standard figure we can point you to. Ask for the agent's HMO rate in writing, because it is often higher than their single-let rate, and ask which tasks are charged on top of the percentage.