For landlords
HMO licensing in Bedford: when you need one
When letting rooms in Bedford Borough tips you into needing a House in Multiple Occupation licence, what mandatory licensing covers, and how to check for additional local schemes.
Updated
The mandatory threshold
Mandatory HMO licensing is national. It bites when a property is occupied by five or more people who form two or more households and who share basic amenities such as a kitchen, bathroom or toilet.
A household means a single person or members of the same family living together. Five unrelated workers sharing a house is five households, and that property needs a licence. A family of five is one household, and it does not.
Letting without a required licence is a criminal offence. It also exposes you to a rent repayment order, where a tenant or the council can reclaim up to twelve months of rent.
Worth knowing. The number that matters is people, not bedrooms. A three-bedroom house with five occupants across two of the rooms still crosses the threshold.
Additional and selective licensing
Beyond the mandatory scheme, councils have powers to introduce additional licensing, which extends HMO licensing to smaller properties, and selective licensing, which can cover all private rented homes in a designated area regardless of size.
These are local decisions, they are consulted on, and they change. Whether one applies to your street is a question only the council can answer definitively, and the answer this year may not be the answer next year.
Worth knowing. Do not rely on a blog — including this one — for whether your specific address needs a licence. Check with Bedford Borough Council directly, in writing, and keep the reply.
What a licence requires of you
A licence is not just a fee. It comes with conditions covering the physical property and how you run it, and the council can inspect against them.
Typical licence conditions include:
- Minimum room sizes for sleeping accommodation
- Adequate kitchen and bathroom facilities for the number of occupants
- Working smoke and, where relevant, heat and carbon monoxide alarms
- An annual gas safety certificate, supplied to the council on request
- Electrical installation condition reports at the required interval
- Safe and adequate means of escape from fire
- A named, contactable manager who is a fit and proper person
Why this is about to matter more in Bedford
A large construction workforce arriving over a five-year period is precisely the demand pattern that turns ordinary family houses into shared worker accommodation. That is a legitimate and useful thing to provide — but the moment a house has five unrelated workers in it, it is an HMO in law, whatever anyone calls it.
The realistic advice for someone letting a spare room or two in their own home is that mandatory licensing is not your problem. The moment you are letting a whole property to several unrelated people, it very likely is.
Primary sources
Check these rather than taking our word for it. Rules and thresholds change.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ — check the primary sources above, your council, or take professional advice before making a decision.
Common questions
- Do I need an HMO licence to rent out one room in my house?
- Almost certainly not. Mandatory HMO licensing applies at five or more occupants forming two or more households. A resident owner with one or two lodgers falls well below that, though you should still check whether a local additional or selective licensing scheme applies.
- How many people make a property an HMO in Bedford?
- For mandatory licensing, five or more people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. Note that a property can meet the legal definition of an HMO at three occupants without requiring a mandatory licence — the definition and the licensing threshold are different things.
- What happens if I let an unlicensed HMO?
- It is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine, and the council can issue a civil penalty instead of prosecuting. Tenants or the council can also apply for a rent repayment order reclaiming up to twelve months of rent, and being unlicensed restricts the possession routes available to you if you later need the property back.
- Does a licence cover the whole property or each room?
- The licence is for the property, and it specifies the maximum number of occupants and often the permitted use of individual rooms. Exceeding the permitted occupancy breaches the licence.