Houses in multiple occupation

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A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a house or a flat where three or more unrelated tenants live and share facilities such as a toilet, washing facilities or cooking facilities.

It can include a house, bed-sit, lodgings, student accommodation, hostel or a shared flat. HMOs have to be licensed unless they qualify for exemption.

Tenants and HMOs

If you live in an HMO and it is not licensed, the property may not meet our licensing scheme standards and you may be at risk from the following:

poor fire-safety measures
gas and electrical safety
unsuitable facilities
poor standard or repair
overcrowding
poor tenancy management issues

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Landlords and HMOs

Do you own a property which needs a licence? Landlords who continue to run HMOs without a licence are committing an offence. They can be prosecuted and could be fined up to £5,000.

Licence application and guidance

HMO licence application (pdf - 906kb)

HMO application guidance (pdf - 63kb)

HMO licence conditions (pdf - 86kb)

Display Notice and Certificate of Compliance

A display notice must be completed and displayed at the premises to which the licence relates. Please note that the date on the display notice must be exactly 21days from the date the application is lodged with the licensing section. (If posting your application please remember the 21 days will not commence until the application has been received at this office).

After the 21 days date has passed the Certificate of Compliance (on the reverse of the display notice) requires to be completed and returned to the licensing office. The dates on this certificate must reflect the date the application is lodged and the 21 days thereafter.

Once the 21 days date has passed and both sides of this form have been completed correctly you must ensure that you submit the original to the licensing office.

HMO licence display and compliance notice and guidelines (pdf - 602kb)

Is your property up to our standard?

have you upgraded the fire escape routes?
have you dealt with gas and electrical safety issues?
is your property clean and well-maintained?
do you meet your responsibilities in relation to the common areas of the property?
do you have an approved tenancy agreement?

Neighbours and HMOs

Are there HMOs in your neighbourhood? If someone has applied for a licence, a public notice must be displayed for 21 days from the date of the application where it can be easily read at or near the property. You are entitled to object to an application, giving your reasons.

If you believe that there are unlicensed HMOs in your neighbourhood or you are experiencing nuisance conditions arising from HMOs, please download a copy of our licensing scheme for HMOs.

Licensing scheme for HMOs (pdf - 81KB)

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New planning policy

After extensive public consultation exercise, the Council approved a new Planning policy on Houses in Multiple Occupation in November 2007. This policy will be used to assess planning applications for Houses in Multiple Occupation.

For further information you can download the supplementary guidance below, or visit our page on the Renfrewshire local plan supplementary guidance.