Middlesbrough HMO Licence — Mandatory Licensing for Houses in Multiple Occupation

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across the entire borough of Middlesbrough — no designated area, no expiry date. If your property houses five or more people from two or more separate households who share a kitchen, bathroom, or toilet, it needs a licence under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004.

This is a different regime from the selective licensing that runs in Newport ward. The borough-wide mandatory HMO licence applies at the five-occupant threshold; private lets below that threshold may need a selective licence if they are inside a Newport designation.

Who Needs a Mandatory HMO Licence?

The threshold is five occupants from at least two households sharing basic amenities. Children count as occupants. A couple counts as one household; two unrelated friends count as two. A terraced house with five students sharing a kitchen needs a licence. A bungalow with five occupants from three families needs one too — the storey test was abolished in October 2018.

Properties that fall below this threshold (three or four occupants from separate households) do not need a mandatory HMO licence. Middlesbrough Council does not operate an additional HMO licensing scheme, so smaller HMOs are only caught if they sit inside a Newport selective licensing area.

What It Costs

The mandatory HMO licence fee is £1,168.88, covering a five-year licence term. The fee is paid in staged instalments through the My Middlesbrough portal — Part 1 at application and Part 2 when the council issues a Notice of Intention to Grant.

The £20 fit-and-proper-person check fee is listed for Newport 2 selective applications and applies per proposed licence holder.

Room Size Requirements

National minimum sleeping room sizes apply to every licensed HMO:

• Single adult (aged 10+): 6.51 m²
• Couple: 10.22 m²
• Child under 10: 4.64 m²

Rooms below these minimums cannot be used as sleeping accommodation. The licence will specify the maximum number of occupants permitted in each room, and exceeding that number is a breach of licence conditions.

Scale floor plans showing exact room dimensions, head heights, and window openings must be submitted with the HMO application. The council uses these to determine permitted occupancy.

How to Apply

Applications are submitted online through the My Middlesbrough portal. You need to create an account, then use the dedicated HMO Licensing Application form. The required documents are the same as for selective licensing — gas safety certificate, EICR, EPC, smoke and CO alarm declarations — plus scale floor plans with room measurements.

The fit-and-proper-person assessment evaluates whether the proposed licence holder has any criminal convictions for fraud, violence, drugs, or sexual offences, any history of housing law breaches, or any adverse findings from other local authorities. This applies to both the licence holder and any managing agent named on the application.

HMO Licensing vs Selective Licensing

The two regimes are separate. Mandatory HMO licensing is a national scheme — it runs everywhere, permanently. Selective licensing is discretionary — Middlesbrough Council chose to designate specific areas, and those designations have five-year expiry dates.

A property in Newport ward with five or more occupants needs a mandatory HMO licence (not a selective licence). A property in Newport ward with a single-family tenant needs a selective licence (not an HMO licence). The key divider is occupant count and household structure, not location.

For the full application walkthrough, document checklist, and licence conditions for both HMO and selective licensing, see our Middlesbrough Landlord Licensing Guide.

See more England guides →