Brighton HMO Licence: Which Scheme Applies, What You Need, and How to Apply

Two HMO Licensing Schemes in Brighton

Brighton and Hove runs two separate HMO licensing schemes, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes landlords make.

Mandatory HMO licensing applies to any property occupied by five or more people from two or more separate households who share facilities like a kitchen or bathroom. It applies across the whole city — every ward — and has no expiry date because it's a national requirement under the Housing Act 2004.

Additional HMO licensing is a local Brighton scheme that extends licensing to smaller HMOs: properties with three or four people from two or more households, arranged over two or more storeys. This scheme runs city-wide from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2029. Single-storey properties with three to four sharers don't qualify as additional HMOs — they fall under selective licensing if they're in one of the four designated wards.

Section 257 converted buildings (blocks of flats where the conversion didn't comply with the Building Regulations in force at the time) are explicitly excluded from the additional scheme. Individual flats within a Section 257 building may still need a selective licence if they're in a selective ward.

Licence Conditions Every HMO Must Meet

Whether your property falls under mandatory or additional licensing, the conditions are substantial:

• Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) renewed annually and provided to the council within seven days of a demand.
• EICR with a satisfactory rating, completed within the last five years. Code C1 and C2 remedial actions must be completed within 28 days.
• Smoke alarms on every storey and carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with fuel-burning appliances.
• Written tenancy agreements for all occupants, including deposit protection details and repair contacts.
• Six-monthly property inspections with written logs retained for the full licence term and available to the council within 28 days of a request.
• Emergency security repairs within 24 hours of notification.
• Waste management schedules and management contact details displayed inside the property.

For HMOs specifically, you also need to meet the room size minimums: 6.5 m² for a single bedroom occupied by a person aged 10 or over, 10.2 m² for a double bedroom occupied by two people. Floor area under a ceiling height of 1.5 metres doesn't count. Kitchen and bathroom provisions scale with occupant numbers.

What the Fees Look Like

Mandatory HMO fees depend on the number of occupants and tenancy structure:

Additional HMO licences cost £1,127 for properties with separate tenancies. All fees follow the Part A / Part B split — Part A paid at application, Part B invoiced after draft approval with a 10-working-day payment window.

The £75 discounts include an EPC rating of Band C or higher (or Band D or E if that is the property's maximum potential rating), landlord accreditation or a Propertymark associate managing agent, and registered-charity status. Up to two discounts can be combined, for a maximum reduction of £150.

Applying Through the Portal

All applications go through the council's online Property Licensing Portal (the Mendix platform). You'll need to upload your safety certificates, floor plan, tenancy agreement, and inspection logs. The portal also requires fit-and-proper-person declarations for the proposed licence holder and any managing agent.

An application is only "duly made" once all mandatory documents are uploaded and Part A is paid. If the council requests missing documents and you don't provide them within 28 days, the application is cancelled, Part A is forfeited, and the property counts as unlicensed.

For a complete walkthrough of both HMO schemes, the document requirements, and the portal submission process, see the Brighton and Hove Landlord Licensing Guide.

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