Student Accommodation Licence in Middlesbrough — What HMO Rules Apply

Middlesbrough is home to Teesside University, and the student rental market around the campus creates a specific set of licensing questions for landlords. Whether your student property needs a licence depends on who manages it, how many tenants it holds, and where it is located.

University Halls Are Exempt — Private Student Lets Are Not

The Housing Act 2004 provides an exemption for qualifying student halls of residence managed or controlled directly by a higher education institution and covered by an approved code of practice. Teesside University-managed accommodation that meets these conditions does not need an HMO or selective licence.

Private student accommodation is a completely different matter. If you are a private landlord letting a house to students, you are treated no differently from any other landlord under the licensing rules. The tenants being students does not reduce or remove your licensing obligations.

When a Student Property Needs a Mandatory HMO Licence

A private student let anywhere in Middlesbrough needs a mandatory HMO licence if:

• It is occupied by five or more persons as their sole or main residence
• Those persons form two or more separate households
• They share one or more basic amenities (kitchen, bathroom, toilet)

Five students from different families sharing a house easily meets this test. Each unrelated student counts as a separate household — five friends sharing means five separate households. The property needs a mandatory HMO licence at £1,168.88, valid for five years, regardless of which part of the borough it is in.

The storey requirement was abolished in October 2018. A two-storey terraced house or even a single-floor flat with five student tenants from separate households needs a licence just as much as a three-storey Victorian conversion.

Newport Ward and Selective Licensing

If the student property is within the Newport 1 (Phase 2) or Newport 2 designation area:

• A house let to a single student on their own, or to two or three students sharing, needs a selective licence (£998 for Newport 1 Phase 2; £878 for Newport 2, plus a separate £20 fit and proper person check fee)
• A property let to five or more students from separate households needs a mandatory HMO licence instead (the HMO licence takes precedence over the selective licence)

Outside Newport, a house let to three or four students sharing does not need any licence — Middlesbrough has no additional HMO licensing scheme in force.

The Article 4 Direction Complication

Since 8 February 2025, Middlesbrough Council's Article 4 Direction has removed permitted development rights for converting a single-family dwelling (Use Class C3) to a small HMO (Use Class C4, three to six occupants) across the borough, except the Middlesbrough Development Corporation area in the town centre and Middlehaven. Outside that area, any such conversion started after that date requires full planning permission.

This matters for student lets because many landlords convert family homes near the university into shared student houses. If you converted after 8 February 2025 without planning permission, you face enforcement action from the planning department — entirely separate from any licensing issues. You could hold a valid HMO licence and still be in breach of planning law.

Student HMOs that were already operating as C4 use before 8 February 2025 retain their lawful existing use, but you may want a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) as evidence.

Room Sizes for Student HMOs

National mandatory minimum room sizes apply to every licensed HMO, including student properties. Each single bedroom must be at least 6.51 m² of clear usable floor area (10.22 m² for a double room). Parts of rooms with ceiling heights below 1.5 m do not count. Attic rooms in Victorian conversions often fail this test.

Our Middlesbrough Landlord Licensing guide covers the full HMO and selective licence process, including the documents, fees, and conditions specific to Middlesbrough.

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