Alternatives to the NRLA HMO Course for Licence Compliance in England

The NRLA's HMO Fundamentals course costs £65 for members or £135 for non-members, on top of a £125/year individual membership. If you are a self-managing landlord who just needs to get through a mandatory HMO licence application — not join an industry body — there are cheaper and more practical alternatives.

The strongest alternative for most landlords is a dedicated HMO licensing guide that replaces the course's educational overview with a step-by-step application workflow and printable tools. For landlords who want hands-off submission, a letting agent is faster but more expensive. For landlords who are comfortable researching independently, free council and government resources cover the same ground — with significantly more effort.

What the NRLA HMO Course Offers

The HMO Fundamentals course is an educational programme covering:

• The definition of an HMO and the different licensing schemes (mandatory, additional, selective)
• The fit-and-proper person test
• Management regulations and licence conditions
• An overview of room sizes, fire safety, and amenity standards

It is a training course, not an application tool. It teaches you about HMO licensing, but it does not walk you through the council portal step by step. It does not include a pre-submission document checklist, a two-part fee tracker, a renewal calendar, or a pre-inspection audit. After completing the course, you still need to assemble your documents, measure your rooms, and navigate the portal yourself.

The course requires NRLA membership (£125/year) for the discounted rate. Without membership, the standard rate is £135. First-year total for a non-member: up to £260.

The Alternatives

1. Dedicated HMO Licensing Guide

A step-by-step guide like Mandatory HMO Licensing in England is the closest functional replacement for the NRLA course — but oriented toward execution rather than education.

Best for: Self-managing landlords who need a practical application reference, not a training programme. If you want to do the application yourself and want a structured workflow to follow, this is the most direct alternative.

2. Letting Agent Submission Service

A letting agent will handle the entire portal submission for you. Typical cost: £300–£360 inc. VAT per application. You still supply all documents and certificates; the agent fills in the form.

Best for: Landlords who are confident they understand the requirements but want someone else to deal with the portal. Also practical for portfolio landlords submitting multiple applications at once.

Limitations: You learn nothing about the process — you pay again for every renewal and every new property. Over a five-year cycle with one renewal, agent fees alone reach £600–£720 per property, not counting ongoing licence-holder charges if the agent is named on the licence.

3. HMO Compliance Software (HMOJo, Kamma, LandlordReady)

Compliance software platforms offer licence boundary checks, expiry reminders, and property-level compliance dashboards. Some are free for basic use; full features typically cost £50–£65+ per year.

Best for: Portfolio landlords who need ongoing compliance monitoring across multiple properties and licensing schemes. Useful after you hold a licence, not for getting through the application.

Limitations: These are monitoring tools, not application guides. They track what you need to do and when, but they do not tell you how to prepare the documents, measure rooms to the council's standard, or sequence your uploads to avoid forfeiting the Part A fee. They complement a licensing guide or course; they do not replace one.

4. Free Council and Government Resources

Every council in England publishes its HMO licensing requirements, fee schedules, and portal links. GOV.UK explains the national five-person, two-household test. Legislation.gov.uk has the full text of the Housing Act 2004 and the relevant statutory instruments.

Best for: Experienced landlords who have been through the process before and just need to check current fees or requirements. Also suitable for anyone comfortable reading regulatory language and building their own checklist.

Limitations: Information is scattered across multiple websites with no single workflow. Fee schedules list the total but rarely explain the Part A/B split or the consequences of submitting an incomplete application. Room-size standards may be buried in downloadable policy documents. No pre-submission checklist, no document sequence, no inspection preparation guidance.

Honest Tradeoffs

No single alternative does everything the NRLA membership offers. The membership includes a helpline, broad compliance resources across all tenancy law (not just HMO licensing), networking events, and discounts on third-party services. If you value those things and plan to be a landlord for the long term, the £125/year may pay for itself.

But if your immediate need is getting through one mandatory HMO licence application without paying £260 for a course and membership that mostly covers ground you can get from a $29 guide, the alternatives above are worth considering.

The real question is whether you need education or execution. The NRLA course is education — it teaches you how HMO licensing works. A dedicated guide is execution — it walks you through the application step by step. A letting agent is delegation — someone else does it for you. Free resources are research — you piece together the information yourself.

Who This Is For

• Landlords looking at the NRLA HMO course who are not sure the membership fee is justified for their situation
• Self-managing landlords with one or two HMOs who need practical application help, not broad industry education
• Landlords who already understand HMO licensing conceptually but need a structured workflow for the actual submission
• Anyone comparing the cost of different routes to HMO compliance

Who This Is NOT For

• Landlords who want ongoing helpline support and broad tenancy-law resources — the NRLA membership is the right product for that
• Portfolio landlords managing ten or more properties — the NRLA membership, compliance software, and possibly an agent are all justified at that scale
• Landlords facing enforcement action — none of these alternatives replace legal representation

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the NRLA HMO course accredited or required by any council?

The course itself is not required for a licence application. Some councils offer fee discounts to landlords who are accredited through the NRLA or other bodies, but accreditation is separate from the HMO course — it typically involves a broader assessment or portfolio review. Check your council's accreditation discount policy before assuming the course qualifies you.

Can I take the NRLA course without becoming a member?

Yes, at the standard rate of £135 (compared to £65 for members). However, at that price you are paying more than a dedicated licensing guide costs while getting a general educational overview rather than a step-by-step application workflow.

Do any of these alternatives include a helpline?

No. The NRLA helpline is one of the main benefits of membership. The closest alternative is your council's housing team, which can answer questions about their specific licensing requirements, fee schedule, and portal. The guide's Local Authority Confirmation Worksheet is designed to help you ask the right questions when you call.

What if I'm not sure whether my property needs a mandatory or additional licence?

This is a common point of confusion. A mandatory HMO licence applies nationally to properties that meet a statutory HMO test and have five or more people in two or more households. An additional HMO licence is a council-specific scheme that can capture smaller HMOs (three or four people). Mandatory HMO licensing supersedes Additional and Selective licensing for a property that requires a mandatory licence; an Additional scheme takes precedence over Selective licensing for qualifying shared properties. Any good licensing resource — whether a guide, a course, or a council's own website — should help you identify which schemes apply. The guide's Local Authority Confirmation Worksheet specifically addresses this overlap.

See more England guides →