Brighton Landlord Licensing Exemptions: Who Doesn't Need a Licence and Temporary Exemption Notices

Statutory Exemptions From Selective Licensing

The Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 sets out which properties are exempt from selective licensing even if they're in a designated ward. The exemptions are specific:

• Social housing. Properties managed or controlled by a local authority, Registered Provider of Social Housing, or other public body.
• Care-regulated properties. Properties regulated under alternative statutory instruments, such as registered care homes.
• Prohibition orders. Properties subject to a prohibition order under the Housing Act 2004.
• University-managed student lets. Properties occupied exclusively by students where the letting is managed directly by an educational establishment operating under an approved Code of Practice (Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006).
• Family lets. Properties let under a tenancy granted to a family member with no commercial rent structure.

The university exemption is narrow and often misunderstood. It only applies to properties managed directly by the university — purpose-built halls and university-leased houses. A private landlord letting a house to three Sussex or Brighton University students needs an additional HMO licence (if two or more storeys) or a selective licence (if in a designated ward and single storey) just like any other letting. The students being students doesn't change the licensing requirement.

Temporary Exemption Notices

If your property becomes licensable but you're actively working to resolve the situation — you're selling it, or you've served lawful notices to revert to single-family occupancy — you can apply to the council for a Temporary Exemption Notice (TEN).

A TEN is granted entirely at the council's discretion. It provides protection from enforcement for up to three months. In exceptional circumstances, a second three-month TEN may be granted — but the absolute maximum is six months total.

Key points that trip landlords up:

• Applying doesn't equal approval. Submitting a TEN request does not protect you. The property remains licensable and enforceable until the council formally issues the written TEN certificate.
• You need to be actively resolving the situation. The council expects evidence that the property is being marketed for sale, that tenants have been given notice, or that other concrete steps are underway. Applying for a TEN to delay licensing while continuing to let the property commercially won't fly.
• Six months is the hard ceiling. There's no route to a third TEN. After six months, you either license the property or stop renting it.

Resident Landlord Exemption

Owners who live in the property and take in no more than two lodgers alongside their own household are exempt from HMO licensing under Schedule 14 of the Housing Act 2004. This is a specific exemption for resident landlords — not for properties where the landlord occasionally stays.

The moment a third unrelated lodger moves in, the exemption falls away and the property becomes a licensable HMO.

What Doesn't Count as an Exemption

A few things that landlords sometimes assume protect them but don't:

• Having a letting agent. An agent managing the property doesn't transfer or remove the licensing obligation.
• The property being newly purchased. A licensable property needs a licence from the day of completion if tenants remain in occupation.
• Applying for an HMO licence. A pending application doesn't create an interim exemption; the property remains licensable and subject to enforcement until a licence is granted.

For the full decision sequence including exemptions, the Brighton and Hove Landlord Licensing Guide walks through every scenario step by step.

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