Bolton council intends to recruit a five-person team to implement the licensing of smaller HMOs in the borough, at a cost of around £239,000 per year and approximately £1,255,000 over five years, including inflation for future pay awards.
Consultation and Background
The council is currently reviewing the outcome of a formal consultation that ended in April on introducing a borough-wide licensing scheme for smaller HMOs and some older converted self-contained flats. The consultation was launched after the council said a significant proportion of the more than 700 HMO properties in Bolton are ‘being managed ineffectively, creating risks for tenants and the wider community’.
Although approval and implementation of the scheme have not yet come forward, the council’s executive cabinet member for adults and community housing services will next week be asked to allow the hiring of five new staff to administer the scheme, funded via licence fees levied on HMO operators.
Licence Fees and Scope
The council is proposing a standard licence fee of £1,211 per HMO covered by the scheme, with each licence lasting five years. The additional licensing scheme would apply to smaller HMOs occupied by three or four people, forming two or more households and sharing facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.
Licensing would allow the council to set and enforce conditions relating to fire, gas and electrical safety, property condition and maintenance, overcrowding and room sizes, waste management, the management of anti-social behaviour, and how landlords and agents manage and communicate with tenants. The proposal would apply across the whole of Bolton, rather than being limited to specific neighbourhoods.
Increase in Smaller HMOs
The council said in recent years the borough has experienced a substantial increase in smaller HMOs, with research indicating that more than 720 are now operating, many created under permitted development rights prior to the introduction of a borough-wide Article 4 Direction in June 2025. In the additional licensing consultation document, the authority said that between 2022 and 2025, the council received almost 1,900 complaints about disrepair in rented housing, including 397 relating specifically to HMOs, despite these properties representing less than one per cent of the borough’s housing stock.
The document said: “Common concerns include poor property management, fire and electrical hazards, overcrowding, waste and refuse issues, and reports of anti-social behaviour— problems that can have a wider impact on neighbourhoods and local communities. Licensing would enable the council to ensure all HMOs are properly maintained, meet safety standards, and are managed responsibly.”
Borough-Wide Impact
The document added that concentrations of HMOs were particularly evident in areas such as the Haulgh, Chorley New Road, and central Farnworth, but ‘smaller HMOs are found in every ward across the borough, meaning these issues are not confined to a single location and require a consistent, borough-wide response’. The licensing scheme would apply to all existing and future HMOs in Bolton meeting the criteria. A decision on the additional staffing is set to be made on July 27.
