Bolton council intends to tighten regulation of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) by introducing a borough-wide licensing scheme, with landlords facing a £1,211 fee per property.
Proposal details
Next week, the council is set to agree the introduction of a borough-wide licensing scheme for smaller HMOs and some older converted self-contained flats. A report to be put before the council’s cabinet said there had been a significant rise in the number of HMOs in the borough, with a conservative estimate of over 720 such properties.
Many were converted under permitted development rights prior to the introduction of the council’s article 4 direction implemented in June 2025, which now requires planning permission for all new HMOs.
Complaints and enforcement
In the past three years, the council has received 397 complaints related specifically to HMOs, despite them representing less than one per cent of Bolton’s housing stock. The authority said this means ‘HMOs account for a disproportionately high number of complaints and enforcement actions’.
The council is expected to agree a standard licence fee of £1,211 per HMO covered by the scheme. Each licence would last for five years.
Staffing and costs
In a separate decision last month, the council agreed to recruit a five-person team to implement the scheme. The cost of hiring new staff will cost around £239,000 per year and around £1,255,000 for a five-year scheme, which includes inflation for future pay awards. The roles will be funded via the licence fees levied on HMO landlords.
New standards
Some of the key changes introduced by the scheme would be an increase in the minimum bedroom size from the statutory minimum 6.5m2 to 7.5m2 and an increase in the minimum kitchen and kitchen/diner sizes. The council said it recognised that a number of existing HMOs will not meet these sizes, therefore ‘a flexible approach will be used with the aim of increasing standards over time’.
For HMOs that fall within the new additional licensing scheme, a period of up to three years will be given to make changes and meet the requirements.
The report said that HMO property licensing ‘delivers a range of benefits for tenants, landlords, the wider community’. It said: “It will ensure landlords maintain their HMOs to a safe and decent standard, protecting tenants’ health and wellbeing, requires landlords to provide and maintain valid fire, gas, and electrical safety certificates and helps the council take a proactive approach to identifying and addressing unsafe or substandard housing.”
The council identified some possible negative impacts, including that some bedrooms may be lost as they are below the new size and the owner is unable to or unwilling to make the alterations. The council said that some kitchens and communal spaces may be insufficient to accommodate all required amenities, so the number of tenants may need to be reduced if extra space cannot be created to meet the new requirements. It also said that some landlords could choose to increase rents to cover licence fees.
Bolton council’s cabinet will decide on whether to introduce the licensing scheme at a meeting on Monday, August 17.
