How to Apply for a Peterborough HMO Licence Without a Letting Agent

You can apply for a Peterborough HMO licence entirely on your own. Additional HMO applications use the Home Safe online portal; mandatory HMO applications go directly through Peterborough City Council. Neither application requires a letting agent — individual landlords can complete the online forms, document uploads, and payment directly. The reason many landlords hesitate is that the online process is not intuitive, the Yoti biometric verification step is unfamiliar on the Home Safe route, and the information needed to prepare is spread across two separate websites.

Here is what the process actually involves and where self-managing landlords run into trouble.

The Application Process, Step by Step

Peterborough City Council uses Home Safe, an external delivery partner, for selective and additional HMO licensing. Mandatory HMO applications go directly through the Council. There is no paper form.

The Home Safe application process has six stages. These steps cover the additional HMO route; mandatory HMO applications use the Council's direct online route.

Stage 1: Create an account on the Home Safe portal. For an additional HMO application, you register with your email address. This is straightforward.

Stage 2: Complete Yoti identity verification. This is where many landlords stall the first time. Yoti is a biometric identity platform that verifies you with a face match on a smartphone or computer. Follow the portal prompts to upload a scan of your driving licence or passport and complete a live face scan. Verification can take up to 48 hours, though it often completes within minutes.

If you cannot complete Yoti online — no smartphone, ID not recognised, verification keeps failing — you can verify your identity at a participating Post Office branch instead.

Stage 3: Verify your proof of address. You upload a utility bill or council tax statement dated within the last three months. Home Safe checks this against your Yoti identity verification. This step can take up to 48 hours.

Stage 4: Add your property to the portal. Enter the property address, construction date, property type, room configurations, usable floor space dimensions, and maximum proposed occupancy. For HMO applications, you need accurate room measurements — the portal asks for floor areas in square metres, and undersized rooms will trigger a refusal.

Stage 5: Start the formal application. Once you initiate the application, you have a strict 28-day window to upload all required compliance documents, complete the legal declarations, and pay the Part A fee. The application is not legally "duly made" until everything is submitted.

Stage 6: Upload documents and pay the Part A fee. The specific documents depend on whether you are applying for an additional HMO licence or a mandatory HMO licence. Both require proof of ownership, a gas safety certificate (if gas is present), an EICR, an EPC, a floor plan with dimensions, and a fire risk assessment. PAT testing is required for landlord-supplied portable electrical appliances over one year old. Additional HMO applications require fire alarm and emergency lighting certificates if those systems are installed; mandatory HMO applications require those certificates. You pay the Part A fee at this stage — £588 for additional HMO, £367 for mandatory HMO. The Council invoices the Part B fee when it issues the draft licence; pay it within seven calendar days, before the final licence is granted.

Where Self-Managing Landlords Get Stuck

The Yoti Verification Step

Biometric identity verification is not something most landlords have encountered before. Yoti needs good lighting, a clear photograph of your ID document, and a face scan that matches. Older landlords or those with limited smartphone experience frequently abandon the process at this point — not because it is technically difficult, but because it is unexpected and poorly explained on the portal.

Working Out Which Licence They Actually Need

A house rented to three or four people from two or more households sharing a kitchen or bathroom needs an additional HMO licence (city-wide, £1,100 total). A house rented to five or more people from two or more households sharing facilities needs a mandatory HMO licence (also city-wide, also £1,100 total but with a different Part A/Part B split). A single-family let in designated areas of certain wards needs a selective licence instead (£908 total).

The confusion multiplies when occupancy changes. If you started with a family tenant (selective licence territory) and now have three unrelated sharers, your property has moved into additional HMO licensing. If a property was licensed under the old 2016–2021 selective scheme and the occupancy makes it an HMO, the old licence does not cover it — you need a fresh HMO application.

Room Measurements and Amenity Standards

HMO licence applications require floor plans with room dimensions. For mandatory HMOs, national minimum sleeping room sizes under the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/616) are:

• 6.51 m² for one person aged 10 or over
• 10.22 m² for two persons aged 10 or over
• 4.64 m² for one child under 10

Additional HMO applications must also meet Peterborough's local amenity standards. For example, a single bedroom must measure at least 6.51 m² where a communal lounge exists, or 10.00 m² where there is no communal lounge; check the Council's current standards for other room and occupancy combinations. Room measurements below the applicable standards risk refusal or licence conditions, and the Part A processing fee is not refunded if the application is rejected due to non-compliance.

The 28-Day Application Window

Once you start the formal application (Stage 5), you have 28 days to finish it. If you are still waiting for an EICR or fire risk assessment, starting the application too early means the clock is running while you chase documents. Self-managing landlords who prepare everything before starting the formal application avoid this trap.

What It Costs to Do It Yourself vs Using an Agent

The safety documentation — gas safety, EICR, EPC, fire risk assessment, and PAT test evidence for landlord-supplied portable electrical appliances over one year old — costs the same regardless of who submits the application. Agents do not generate these documents; they submit what you provide.

Who This Is For

• Self-managing landlords with one or two HMOs in Peterborough who want to handle applications directly
• Landlords who are comfortable with online forms but need the Peterborough-specific process mapped out
• Accidental landlords whose tenant composition recently shifted to three or more unrelated sharers
• Landlords renewing HMO licences who handled the previous application through an agent and want to manage it themselves this time

Who This Is NOT For

• Landlords who cannot use online portals and need someone else to handle the digital submission entirely
• Portfolio landlords with many HMOs who want batch processing and ongoing compliance management
• Landlords who need a fully managed service including property inspections, tenant referencing, and maintenance

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need any technical knowledge to apply through the Home Safe portal?

No specialised knowledge — you need basic computer literacy (filling in online forms, uploading PDF documents, and completing Yoti's face match on a smartphone or computer for Home Safe applications). The portal is a standard web application. The difficulty is not the technology; it is knowing what information to enter and which documents to upload at each stage.

What happens if my application is rejected after I paid the Part A fee?

The Council retains the Part A processing fee in almost all circumstances, including when an application is refused or withdrawn. For an additional HMO application, that is £588 you do not get back. This is the main financial risk of an unprepared application. The most common rejection reasons are incomplete documentation, room measurements below minimum standards, and expired safety certificates.

Can I apply for a temporary exemption instead of a full licence?

If you are actively taking steps to stop renting the property — selling it or converting it back to single-family use — you can apply for a Temporary Exemption Notice (TEN) through the relevant application route. This costs £150 and lasts three months. A second three-month TEN may be granted in exceptional circumstances, but you cannot use TENs to indefinitely delay licensing.

How long does the whole process take from start to finish?

For the Home Safe route, Yoti verification and the address check take up to 48 hours. Once verified, you can complete the property details and start the formal application immediately. The 28-day window then runs from the point you initiate the application. Most self-managing landlords who have their documents ready can complete the portal work in a single sitting of two to three hours. The Council reviews the complete application before issuing its decision.

Is a compliance guide worth it when the council website is free?

The council website and Home Safe portal contain all the rules — they are the primary source. The problem is that the information is split across two websites, separate fee schedules, multiple downloadable PDFs, and scheme-specific designation notices. A guide like the Landlord Licensing in Peterborough guide reorganises this into the sequence you actually need: which scheme applies, which documents to prepare, how the portal works screen by screen, and what the licence conditions require after approval. For landlords whose time has a value, the hours saved in not cross-referencing multiple council pages is the return on the guide price.

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