HMO licence fees by council — the 20 biggest HMO councils compared

All 20 council fees last checked 2026-10-12

Mandatory HMO licence fees are set by each council and the published comparisons go stale fast. This table covers the 20 English councils with the most HMOs (ranked on the official Local Authority Housing Statistics 2024/25 return) and every fee links to the exact source — the council's own page or PDF where readable, otherwise a dated aggregator read of the council page — with the date it was checked.

For a baseline 5-bed / 5-letting HMO (new licence): fees range from £900 (Leicester) to £2,639.10 (Greenwich) across these 20 councils; median £1,400. Each council page shows the renewal fee, discounts and how the fee is banded.

A licence is required for a large HMO: rented to 5+ people forming more than 1 household, sharing toilet/bathroom/kitchen, at least 1 tenant paying rent. Licence valid max 5 years; separate licence per HMO. (GOV.UK, checked 2026-10-12)

Fee comparison table

#	Council	Region	New licence (5-bed baseline)	Renewal	Fee basis	Last verified
1	Leeds	Yorkshire and The Humber	£975	£975	flat	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
2	Liverpool	North West	£1,328	£1,328	per-room (banded by units of accommodation)	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
3	Bristol	South West	£1,886	£1,564	two-part	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
4	Birmingham	West Midlands	£1,125	£1,125	two-part (banded by occupants)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
5	Sheffield	Yorkshire and The Humber	£1,185	£1,135	two-part (banded by licensable bedrooms)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
6	Leicester	East Midlands	£900	Not stated	flat	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
7	Newham	London	£1,400	£1,400	banded by number of lettings	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
8	Tower Hamlets	London	£977	£977	flat	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
9	Ealing	London	£1,500	Not stated	two-part (banded by bedrooms)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
10	Kensington and Chelsea	London	£1,493	Not stated	two-part + per-room above 5	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
11	Camden	London	£1,531	£1,531	two-part (flat totals)	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
12	Coventry	West Midlands	£1,571	£937	two-stage (banded by licence length)	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
13	Nottingham	East Midlands	£1,553	Not stated	two-part (accreditation tiers)	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
14	Hackney	London	£1,400	£1,400	two-part (flat total)	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
15	Haringey	London	£1,360	£1,360	two-part + per-unit surcharge above 5	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
16	Lewisham	London	£2,500	£2,500	per lettable unit (two-part)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
17	Southampton	South East	£953	£953	two-stage (timeliness tiers)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
18	Portsmouth	South East	£1,257	£1,191	per-bedroom formula above 5 rooms	2026-10-12 · Aggregator read
19	Hounslow	London	£1,608	£1,608	base fee + per-household fee	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF
20	Greenwich	London	£2,639.10	£2,639.10	per letting (tiered)	2026-10-12 · Council page/PDF

How this table is built and re-checked

Top 20 English councils by council-estimated number of HMOs, Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) 2024/25 return (MHCLG). Ranking data: LAHS 2024/25 figures compiled by landlordtaxlab.co.uk (checked 2026-10-12). fee_new_gbp/fee_renewal_gbp are the baseline-tier total for a 5-bedroom/5-letting/5-occupant HMO (the national mandatory threshold) unless noted. source_type: 'council' = read directly from the council page/PDF on verified_on; 'aggregator' = figure quoted verbatim from the council page by landlordtaxlab.co.uk on 2026-09-05 and re-confirmed present on 2026-10-12 (council URL + quote recorded).

Sources

https://landlordtaxlab.co.uk/hmo-licence-fees-by-council (checked 2026-10-12) — Aggregator; reads fees from councils' own pages dated 2026-09-05; used as second-hand source where council page was unreadable directly.
https://landlordtaxlab.co.uk/hmo-licensing-by-council (checked 2026-10-12) — LAHS 2024/25 (MHCLG) estimated HMOs per council — basis for the top-20 selection.
https://www.gov.uk/find-licences/house-in-multiple-occupation-licence (checked 2026-10-12) — National mandatory-licence rule and 5-year maximum.
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/24981/hmo_fees_2022_to_2023.pdf (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-06/fee-charging-structure-policy-for-the-licensing-houses-multiple-occupation.pdf (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.ealing.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/20113/schedule_of_fees_and_charges.pdf (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/housing/information-homeowners-private-rented-tenants-and-landlords/houses-multiple-occupation-hmo/licence-fees (checked 2026-10-12)
https://lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/housing/landlords/hmo/licensing-fees-for-houses-in-multiple-occupation--hmos (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/housing/landlords/houses-in-multiple-occupation-hmo/licence-fees (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/houses-multiple-occupation/hmo-licensing/2 (checked 2026-10-12)
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/housing/letting-out-your-property/apply-private-rented-property-licence/how-much-property-licence (checked 2026-10-12)