Can an HMO Licence Be Transferred?

The short answer is no. An HMO licence is personal to the person who holds it and cannot be passed to anyone else. This matters to tenants as much as to landlords, because the gap created when a property changes hands is one of the most common reasons a Rent Repayment Order claim succeeds.

What the Act says

Section 68(6) of the Housing Act 2004 is unambiguous:

“A licence may not be transferred to another person.”

Two further rules in the same section matter:

• A licence runs for a fixed period, which cannot exceed five years from the date it was granted (or, if granted before it was required, from the date it came into force) — section 68(4).
• If the licence holder dies while the licence is in force, the licence ceases to be in force on their death — section 68(7).

So a licence cannot be sold with the property, assigned, inherited, or novated to a company. The new person in control must apply for their own.

What that means when an HMO is sold

On completion, the seller’s licence does not follow the building. From the moment the buyer becomes the person having control of or managing the HMO, they need a licence of their own — and if they do not have one, they are committing the offence under section 72(1) of the Housing Act 2004 from day one.

The practical sequence is:

1. Before exchange — establish whether the property is licensable at all: mandatory HMO licensing, an additional licensing designation, or a selective licensing scheme. This varies borough by borough and changes over time.
2. Before completion — the buyer submits their own licence application to the council. Councils will normally accept an application from a prospective owner.
3. On completion — the application should already be in. A duly made application gives the buyer the statutory defence in section 72(4) of the Housing Act 2004 while the council processes it.
4. After completion — the seller should notify the council that they are no longer the licence holder.

The situations people mistake for a transfer

Adding or changing a manager

A licence names both the licence holder and, where different, the manager. Changing the manager is a variation of an existing licence under section 69, not a transfer. The licence holder stays the same. Tell the council — a licence condition usually requires it.

Moving the property into a company

If you transfer your property into a limited company, the company becomes the person having control. The company is a different legal person from you, so it needs its own licence. This catches a lot of landlords doing incorporations for tax reasons.

Death of the licence holder

The licence ends on death under section 68(7). Personal representatives dealing with the estate need to apply in their own right, or promptly appoint someone who will. Councils are generally pragmatic here, but the legal position is that the property is unlicensed in the meantime.

Refinancing or a change of letting agent

Neither changes who has control of the property, so neither requires a new licence — though a change of agent may require a variation if the agent is named as manager.

Why this matters if you are a tenant

Ownership changes are one of the most reliable sources of a licensing gap, and a gap is exactly what a Rent Repayment Order is built on. If your landlord changed during your tenancy — a sale, a transfer into a company, an inheritance — there is a real chance the property was unlicensed for part of the time you were paying rent, even if it was licensed before and after.

You can check the position yourself. Every council must keep a public register of licensed HMOs under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004. Search your council’s register for the address and look at:

• the name of the licence holder — does it match your landlord for the whole period you lived there?
• the start and end dates — do they cover your whole tenancy?
• whether the entry shows the licence as current, expired or revoked.

If the register shows a different holder, a gap in the dates, or no entry at all for part of your tenancy, that is worth investigating.

What a new owner should do, in short

• Check the licensing position before you commit to buy, not after.
• Ask the seller for a copy of the existing licence and its conditions — you cannot inherit it, but it tells you what the council expects of the property.
• Apply in your own name, in good time, and keep proof of the date you applied.
• Budget for the licence fee and for any works the conditions require.
• Remember that a licence lasts a maximum of five years and must be renewed.

A licence cannot be transferred, but the liability certainly moves. The person in control on any given day is the person who commits the offence if the property is unlicensed that day.

This article is general information about the law in England and is not legal advice about your own circumstances. It refers to the Housing Act 2004 and the Housing and Planning Act 2016 as they stood at the date of publication. Licensing schemes and their designations vary between local authorities, and the rules differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.