Consultation on the HMO Licensing Review

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Picture of an HMO Licence

Sheffield City Council has been carrying out a review of its licensing scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). As part of the review, this consultation sought views from private landlords, managing agents and other stakeholders.

The review looked at fees for HMO licences which have not been updated since 2012. We need to ensure that our fees raise sufficient funds to cover the cost of the licensing scheme. Another priority is to comply with legal rulings which require licence fees to be split into two separate charges. The review also considered the introduction of optional services to assist with HMO licensing, and the imposition of higher charges for non-compliant landlords to cover increased management costs. Finally, the review considered how to inform and educate landlords and managers to better understand HMO property standards and management regulations so that a higher proportion are able to meet our standards when being assessed for a licence. Read the full consultation document here.

The public consultation on the review is now closed. A summary of responses is now available here. Thank you to everyone who took time to complete our survey - this is greatly appreciated and has helped us to refine our proposals for improvements to the HMO licensing scheme.

Latest News -

A review of mandatory HMO fees and charging structure was approved by Sheffield City Council’s Housing Policy Committee on 14th September 2023. Implementation of the new fees and charges will take place no sooner than 1st November 2023 for new applications and 1st January 2024 for renewal applications. A new licensing application IT portal is currently in development and will be introduced alongside the new fees and charges. There will be further updates to give notice of the implementation timetable in the coming weeks. The full proposals approved at the Housing Policy Committee meeting are available here:

https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/documents/s62929/HMO%20Licencing%20Fee%20Review.pdf

Sheffield City Council has been carrying out a review of its licensing scheme for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). As part of the review, this consultation sought views from private landlords, managing agents and other stakeholders.

The review looked at fees for HMO licences which have not been updated since 2012. We need to ensure that our fees raise sufficient funds to cover the cost of the licensing scheme. Another priority is to comply with legal rulings which require licence fees to be split into two separate charges. The review also considered the introduction of optional services to assist with HMO licensing, and the imposition of higher charges for non-compliant landlords to cover increased management costs. Finally, the review considered how to inform and educate landlords and managers to better understand HMO property standards and management regulations so that a higher proportion are able to meet our standards when being assessed for a licence. Read the full consultation document here.

The public consultation on the review is now closed. A summary of responses is now available here. Thank you to everyone who took time to complete our survey - this is greatly appreciated and has helped us to refine our proposals for improvements to the HMO licensing scheme.

Latest News -

A review of mandatory HMO fees and charging structure was approved by Sheffield City Council’s Housing Policy Committee on 14th September 2023. Implementation of the new fees and charges will take place no sooner than 1st November 2023 for new applications and 1st January 2024 for renewal applications. A new licensing application IT portal is currently in development and will be introduced alongside the new fees and charges. There will be further updates to give notice of the implementation timetable in the coming weeks. The full proposals approved at the Housing Policy Committee meeting are available here:

https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/documents/s62929/HMO%20Licencing%20Fee%20Review.pdf

Page last updated: 20 Sep 2023, 04:10 PM