An unlicensed HMO is a shared house that legally needed a licence and did not have one. This guide is about the practical question: how do you find out whether that describes the place you live, or lived, in?
Step one: was it an HMO?
Ask three questions about the period you lived there:
- How many people lived there? Count everyone who had it as their only or main home — including children, partners who moved in later, and anyone occupying informally.
- How many households? People who are related or living as a couple are one household. Everyone else is separate.
- Did you share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet with another household?
If there were two or more households sharing an amenity, and it was not a set of genuinely self-contained flats, it was almost certainly an HMO.
Step two: did it need a licence?
| Scheme | Threshold | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory | 5+ people, 2+ households, sharing amenities | All of England |
| Additional | Usually 3+ people, 2+ households | Only in designated areas |
| Selective | Any private let, sharing not required | Only in designated areas |
Five or more people from two or more households means a licence was required anywhere in England. Below that, it depends on whether your council had designated your area.
Step three: check the register
Every council must keep a public register of licensed properties under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004. This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it is free.
- Search for “[your council] HMO register” or “public register of licences”.
- Find your address.
- Check the licence holder’s name — is it your landlord, for the whole time you lived there?
- Check the start and end dates — do they cover your entire tenancy?
- Check the status — current, expired, revoked, or an application pending.
What you are hoping to find is a gap: a period when you were paying rent and no valid licence was in force.
A missing entry is a lead, not proof. Registers are maintained to very different standards. Addresses are sometimes recorded oddly (“Flat A” versus “Ground Floor Flat”), and some councils update slowly. If you cannot find your address, that is a reason to dig further, not to assume the worst — or the best.
Red flags that often accompany an unlicensed HMO
None of these prove anything on their own, but where a landlord has skipped licensing, these tend to travel with it:
- No licence certificate displayed anywhere in the property
- No gas safety certificate, or one that is out of date
- No smoke alarms, or alarms that have never been tested
- Fire doors propped open, missing, or replaced with ordinary doors
- A bedroom below the minimum room size, or a converted living room let as a bedroom
- Rent paid in cash, with no receipts
- No written tenancy agreement, or one with no landlord address on it
- The landlord discourages you from contacting the council
- More people living there than you were told to expect
Asking your landlord directly
You are entitled to ask. Section 231 of the Housing Act 2004 obliges a landlord to supply certain information on request, and a straightforward written question — “please could you confirm whether the property is licensed, and provide a copy of the licence?” — is perfectly reasonable.
Do it in writing, and keep the reply. Either answer helps you: a licence tells you where you stand, and a refusal or an evasive answer is itself worth having on record.
What to do if you think it was unlicensed
- Do not confront the landlord before you have your evidence together.
- Download your bank statements covering the whole tenancy, now, while you still have access to the account.
- Save your tenancy agreement and any messages about the property.
- Photograph the condition of the property and the absence of alarms or certificates.
- Note your exact dates of moving in and out.
- Report it to the council if you wish — they can prosecute, and a conviction obliges the tribunal to award the maximum RRO.
Is it dangerous to raise it?
Your landlord cannot lawfully evict you for asking, or for applying for a Rent Repayment Order. Since 1 May 2026 the section 21 “no fault” route no longer exists, so possession requires a statutory ground and a court order. If a landlord retaliates by locking you out or harassing you, those are separate criminal offences — and separate grounds for a further claim.
Many tenants nonetheless prefer to wait until they have moved out. That is entirely reasonable, and former tenants can apply — just keep an eye on the deadline.
Not sure what you are looking at? Checking the licensing position for a specific address and set of dates is exactly what we do. Send us the details and we will tell you honestly whether there is a claim — free, and with no obligation.
This article is general information about the law in England and is not legal advice about your own circumstances. Licensing designations vary between local authorities and change over time. The rules differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Think this applies to you? Checking whether your landlord needed a licence is free and takes about two minutes. Check whether your landlord needed a licence.