Does My Brighton Flat Need a Licence? How to Check in Under Five Minutes

The Four-Step Decision Sequence

Brighton and Hove has three active licensing routes, and they follow a strict order of precedence. Run through these four steps with your property and you'll know exactly where you stand.

Step 1 — Mandatory HMO test. Does the property house five or more people from two or more separate households who share a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet? If yes, you need a mandatory HMO licence. This applies across the entire city, in every ward, regardless of building type. You can stop here — the mandatory scheme overrides everything else.

Step 2 — Additional HMO test. If the property houses three or four people from two or more separate households, and it's arranged over two or more storeys, it needs an additional HMO licence. This also applies city-wide. A two-storey house shared by three unrelated friends qualifies. A single-storey ground-floor flat with three sharers does not — move to Step 3.

Step 3 — Selective licensing test. If the property doesn't require an HMO licence (a single let, a couple, a family, or three to four sharers in a single-storey flat), check the address. Is it in Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park, or Whitehawk & Marina? If yes, you need a selective licence.

Step 4 — Exempt or out of scope. If the property does not meet any of the above criteria, no licence is required under these schemes. If it would need a selective licence but qualifies for an applicable statutory exemption or a granted Temporary Exemption Notice, the selective licence is not required while that exemption remains valid.

Common Scenarios That Catch Landlords Out

The flatmate who changes everything. You let a two-bedroom flat to a couple. Their friend moves into the spare room. Suddenly you have three people from two households. If the flat is over two storeys, it now needs an additional HMO licence city-wide. If it's single-storey and in a selective ward, it may need a selective licence instead.

The single-storey question. A ground-floor flat with three unrelated tenants in Kemptown doesn't qualify as an additional HMO (not enough storeys). But it does need a selective licence because it's in a designated ward. The same flat in Hanover? No licence required under any current scheme.

Central Hove and Regency. These two wards were designated for selective licensing in July 2026 but the rollout was paused by a legal challenge before it took effect. If your property is in either ward, you have no current selective licensing obligation — but the mandatory and additional HMO schemes still apply city-wide.

Don't Rely on Postcodes

Ward boundaries don't follow postcode boundaries. A BN2 address might be inside or outside a selective ward depending on which side of a particular street it sits on. Always verify against the council's official boundary tools using your full property address.

The Brighton and Hove Landlord Licensing Guide includes a detailed decision worksheet that walks through every occupancy scenario, including resident landlords with lodgers and Section 257 converted buildings.

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