Appealing an HMO Licence Refusal in Scotland: Sheriff Court Process

The 21-Day Deadline

If a council refuses your HMO licence application, revokes an existing licence, or attaches conditions you consider unreasonable, you have a statutory right of appeal. The appeal must be lodged by summary application with the Sheriff Court covering the local authority's area within 21 days of the date of notice of the council's decision.

The statutory deadline is 21 days from the date of notice of the decision, so treat it as strict and check your post and email immediately after a hearing. If that date has passed, seek legal advice at once.

Sheriff Court, Not the First-tier Tribunal

This is a common point of confusion. The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) handles private rented sector disputes — Repairing Standard enforcement, rent adjudication, tenancy deposit protection claims, and tenant rent relief orders. It has no legal jurisdiction over HMO licensing decisions.

HMO licensing appeals go to the Sheriff Court. These are formal legal proceedings. You submit a summary application setting out the grounds on which you say the council's decision was wrong, the sheriff hears evidence from both sides, and issues a judgment.

A Sheriff Court appeal is substantially more formal than a Licensing Sub-Committee hearing. You should instruct a solicitor unless you have experience with court procedure.

What Grounds Work

An appeal can challenge the council's decision on both factual and legal grounds. Common grounds include: the council misapplied the statutory criteria (for example, refusing on overprovision grounds when the council has not adopted an overprovision policy), the committee failed to consider relevant evidence you presented, the conditions attached are disproportionate to the issues identified, or the fit-and-proper person assessment was based on incorrect information.

An appeal is harder to win if the committee's decision was clearly within its discretion and supported by evidence — for example, if multiple neighbours objected and inspection reports confirmed physical deficiencies. The Sheriff Court considers the decision under the statutory appeal framework; get legal advice on how it applies to your case.

The Process

You file the summary application at the Sheriff Court, pay the court fee, and serve a copy on the council. The council files its response. A hearing date is set — typically weeks to months after filing, depending on the court's schedule.

At the hearing, both sides present their case. The sheriff can hear oral evidence from witnesses, review documents, and ask questions. After considering everything, the sheriff issues a written judgment either upholding or overturning the council's decision.

Further Appeal

If either party is dissatisfied with the sheriff's judgment, they can appeal on a point of law to the Sheriff Principal within 21 days. The Sheriff Principal's decision is final — there is no further appeal route beyond that.

A "point of law" appeal is narrower than a full rehearing. You need to show that the sheriff made a legal error — applied the wrong statutory test, ignored relevant legislation, or reached a conclusion no reasonable sheriff could have reached on the evidence. You cannot simply argue that the sheriff weighed the evidence differently from how you would have liked.

The Practical Calculation

Before appealing, weigh the costs honestly. A solicitor for a Sheriff Court summary application and hearing will likely charge several thousand pounds. You also face the possibility of being ordered to pay the council's legal costs if you lose.

Against that, consider what the refusal costs you. If the property is unoccupied and generating no rent while the licence issue is resolved, the financial loss from delay may exceed the cost of the appeal. If the council's conditions require expensive structural work that you believe is not legally required, the appeal may save more than it costs.

If the refusal was based on a genuine compliance deficiency — your fire doors do not meet the standard, your room sizes are below the council's thresholds — fixing the problem and reapplying is usually cheaper and faster than going to court.

The Scotland HMO Licensing Guide covers the full enforcement and appeals framework, including the boundary between licensing decisions (Sheriff Court) and tenancy disputes (First-tier Tribunal), so you know which route applies before spending money on the wrong one.

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