Peterborough Additional HMO Licensing Scheme: What Landlords Need to Know

A City-Wide Scheme for Smaller Shared Houses

Peterborough City Council designated its additional HMO licensing scheme on 15 October 2025, following Cabinet approval on 2 October 2025. The scheme came into force on 26 January 2026 and runs city-wide until 25 January 2031.

Before this scheme, smaller shared houses — those with 3 or 4 unrelated occupants sharing a kitchen or bathroom — only needed a licence if they fell within one of the 10 selective licensing wards. Now they need an additional HMO licence regardless of where they sit in Peterborough.

Which Properties Need an Additional HMO Licence

The scheme covers two categories:

Small shared HMOs — properties occupied by 3 or 4 unrelated people forming 2 or more households who share at least one basic facility (kitchen, bathroom, or toilet). Three working professionals renting separate rooms in a terrace with a shared kitchen is a textbook example.

Section 257 HMOs — buildings converted into self-contained flats where the conversion didn't meet the Building Regulations 1991 (or later regulations in force at the time), and more than one-third of the flats are let on short tenancies. These licences are held by the freeholder, not individual flat tenants.

If the property has 5 or more occupants from 2 or more households sharing basic facilities, it falls under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme instead — the additional scheme doesn't apply. The old three-storey rule for mandatory licensing was abolished nationally in 2018, so a two-storey house with five sharers still needs the mandatory licence.

What About Properties Already Licensed Under Selective?

If your property was already holding a selective licence before 26 January 2026 and houses 3 or 4 unrelated sharers, the Council automatically passported that licence across to the additional scheme. You don't need to submit a new application or pay a second set of fees until your existing passported licence reaches its expiry date.

This only applies to properties that were licensed under selective before the additional scheme started. New applications for 3- or 4-person shared houses go directly through the additional HMO licensing route.

Fees

The total fee is £1,100, split into two parts:

• Part A (application): £588, paid at submission
• Part B (compliance): £512, invoiced when the draft licence is issued and payable within 7 days

The fee applies per property, with no portfolio discounts. A licence granted in 2028 still expires on 25 January 2031 — the same date as one granted in 2026 — so early application gets you the longest coverage for your money.

How It Differs from Mandatory HMO Licensing

Both schemes cost £1,100, but the Part A and Part B split differs. Mandatory HMO licensing charges £367 at Part A and £733 at Part B, while additional licensing charges £588 and £512 respectively. Mandatory licences run for five years from the date of application. Additional licences expire on the scheme's fixed end date of 25 January 2031.

The document requirements are similar — gas safety certificate, EICR, EPC, floor plan with dimensions, and fire risk assessment are mandatory for both. The key difference is the occupancy threshold: 3–4 occupants means additional, 5+ means mandatory.

Application Route

Additional HMO applications go through the Home Safe portal online. You'll complete Yoti identity verification, enter property details, upload compliance documents, and pay the Part A fee within Home Safe's 28-day application window. Mandatory HMO applications use the Council's online HMO Licence Application. The Peterborough Landlord Licensing Guide covers the application workflow, document checklist, and licence conditions for all three schemes.

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