Peterborough HMO Licence Renewal and Selective-to-Additional Passporting

How Long Each Licence Lasts

Not all Peterborough licences run for the same period. The duration depends on which scheme the licence falls under:

Mandatory HMO licences run for five years from the date of application. If you apply in June 2026, the licence runs for five years from that application date, regardless of any scheme changes.

Selective licences expire on the scheme's fixed end date of 10 March 2029 — not 5 years from grant. A licence granted in 2024 and one granted in 2028 both expire on the same day.

Additional HMO licences expire on the scheme's fixed end date of 25 January 2031. Same principle: every additional licence under the current scheme terminates together.

This fixed-expiry structure means applying late gives you a shorter licence for the same fee. There's no pro-rating — a selective licence granted in 2028 costs £908 for roughly one year of coverage.

The Renewal Process

Licence renewal is a fresh application, not an automatic extension. When your licence approaches its expiry date, submit a new application through the relevant route: Home Safe for Selective and Additional licences, or the Council's online HMO Licence Application for a Mandatory HMO licence. Follow the route's identity checks, upload current compliance documents, and pay the required fees.

The Council typically sends reminders before expiry, but the legal responsibility to renew on time sits with you. If you let the licence lapse without submitting a renewal application, you're operating unlicensed from the day it expires.

Protection during processing: If you submit a complete ("duly made") renewal application before your current licence expires, you're protected against prosecution for unlicensed letting while the new application is being determined. For a Home Safe application, submit the required documents, declarations, and Part A fee before expiry. For a Mandatory HMO application, submit the documents and both fee parts required by the Council with the application.

Selective-to-Additional Passporting

When Peterborough's city-wide additional HMO licensing scheme came into force on 26 January 2026, some properties that were already licensed under selective licensing also qualified for the additional scheme. Specifically, shared houses with 3 or 4 unrelated occupants in a selective licensing ward that had been licensed under the selective scheme.

Rather than requiring these landlords to submit a duplicate application and pay a second round of fees, the Council automatically passported their existing selective licences into the additional licensing scheme. The passported licence carries over under the same terms until it reaches its original expiry date.

Once a passported licence expires, the landlord needs to apply for a fresh additional HMO licence at the standard £1,100 fee.

Passporting only applies to licences that were in place before 26 January 2026. New applications for 3–4 person shared houses after that date go directly through the additional HMO licensing route.

When the Schemes Themselves Expire

The selective licensing scheme expires on 10 March 2029. The Council can choose to redesignate — launching a new scheme after public consultation — but there's no automatic continuation. If the scheme isn't renewed, properties in the previously designated wards won't need selective licences once the current scheme ends.

The additional HMO licensing scheme expires on 25 January 2031. The same applies: renewal requires a fresh designation.

Mandatory HMO licensing is a permanent national scheme and doesn't expire.

Property Sales and Licence Transfers

Licences are non-transferable. If you sell a licensed property, the licence terminates on the day ownership transfers. The buyer must submit their own fresh application and pay the full fees. They cannot inherit, adopt, or operate under the seller's licence.

If a licence holder dies, the licence terminates automatically and a statutory 3-month temporary exemption notice comes into force from the date of death. Personal representatives can apply for a replacement licence within 6 months.

Planning Your Renewal Calendar

With three schemes running different expiry cycles, tracking renewal dates matters. The Peterborough Landlord Licensing Guide includes a compliance calendar covering all three schemes plus certificate renewal dates for gas, electrical, fire safety, and EPC.

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