Do I Need an HMO Licence in Barnet?

Three professional sharers in a Barnet flat. A couple and a friend renting a house in Hendon. A spare room let to a lodger while you live elsewhere. Each of these creates a different licensing obligation — and getting it wrong risks a civil penalty of up to £40,000. Here is how to work out where your property sits.

The Two Questions That Decide Everything

Barnet licensing turns on two numbers: how many people live in the property, and how many separate households they form.

Under the Housing Act 2004, a "household" means a single person, a married or cohabiting couple, or a parent with children. Unrelated sharers each count as a separate household. So three friends renting together form three households, while a couple and their child form one.

Five or more occupants, two or more households: mandatory HMO licence. This applies nationwide and has no expiry date.

Three or four occupants, two or more households: additional HMO licence under Barnet's borough-wide designation (in force 27 October 2022 to 27 October 2027). This is the one that catches most accidental landlords — you do not need five tenants to trigger it.

Two occupants from two households: no HMO licence required under the current schemes. A single-household let would need a selective licence only if a scheme is enacted for its ward; no selective scheme is currently in force.

The Accidental Landlord Trap

You inherited a three-bedroom house in Finchley and let it to three postgraduate students sharing a kitchen. Each student is a separate household. That is three occupants from three households sharing amenities — squarely within Barnet's Additional HMO Licensing scheme.

Many landlords assume that HMO licensing only applies to large shared houses with five or more tenants. That was true nationally before local councils began designating additional schemes. In Barnet, the threshold drops to three occupants from two households.

What About a Lodger?

If you live in the property as the owner-occupier and take in no more than two lodgers, the property is exempt from HMO licensing under Schedule 14 of the Housing Act 2004. If you move out, the owner-occupier exemption no longer applies, but two occupants alone do not meet Barnet's three-person Additional HMO licensing threshold.

Section 257 Converted Flats

A building converted into self-contained flats where the conversion did not comply with 1991 Building Regulations, and where fewer than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied, may be classified as a Section 257 HMO. Barnet's Additional HMO scheme covers such a building only if it or part of it is at least three storeys high, contains at least three flats, all flats are privately rented, and the building and flats are under the same ownership or control. When those tests are met, the building needs an HMO licence held by the freeholder or head-lessee, even though individual flats are self-contained. This catches purpose-converted Victorian and Edwardian houses across Barnet.

Work It Out Step by Step

Count the occupants. Count the households. Check whether the building is a standard let or a converted block. The Barnet Landlord Licensing Guide includes a property classification worksheet that routes you through these questions to the correct licence type — or confirms you do not need one.

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