South East
HMO licensing in Dover
Dover District Council requires a mandatory licence for HMOs occupied by 5 or more people from 2 or more households. No additional or selective licensing scheme is currently in force in Dover (checked September 2026). The published licence fee starts at £1,298 (£995 to renew).
Mandatory licence
5+ people, 2+ households
National scheme
Additional / selective
None in force
Mandatory licensing only
Licence fee
From £1,298
Renewal £995
Decision time
Not published
Licensing schemes in Dover
Dover District Council operates the national mandatory scheme. We found no additional or selective licensing scheme in force or proposed as of September 2026. Councils can introduce one after a public consultation, so it is worth setting an alert.
Licence fees
The published fee for a new HMO licence is £1,298, and £995 to renew. Fees can depend on the number of occupants or lettings, and they are reviewed each year.
Dover District Council's published HMO licence fee (confirmed on the council's own HMO webpages) is £1,298 for a new licence covering up to eight habitable rooms, plus £72 for each habitable room above eight. The discounted renewal fee is £995 for up to eight habitable rooms, plus £53 for each additional habitable room above eight — so unlike many councils this fee scales by habitable room count rather than being a flat sum, and it does offer a lower renewal rate than the fee for a brand-new licence. No accredited-landlord discount is advertised on the council's pages. No instalment plan is mentioned. The council separately charges £108 per hour for pre-application phone/video consultation advice and £190 per hour for a property inspection, which are optional add-on services rather than part of the core licence fee.
Check the current fee on the council website (dover.gov.uk) before you apply.
Minimum room sizes
| Single bedroom (1 person unit, HMO with shared facilities) | 6.5 sqm minimum, per the 'Guidance to HMO Amenity Standards' document jointly produced by Kent local authorities (Dartford, Dover, Folkestone Hythe & Romney Marsh/Shepway, Gravesham, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells) and hosted on Dover District Council's own website. |
|---|---|
| Double bedroom (2 person unit, HMO with shared facilities) | 10 sqm minimum, per the same Kent joint HMO Amenity Standards guidance. |
| Child under 10 | No separate child figure is given in the Dover-hosted copy of the Kent joint guidance. Falling back to the national statutory minimum of 4.64 sqm under the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018, since that Order imposes mandatory space-standard conditions on all nationally-licensed HMOs regardless of local guidance. |
| Notes | The copy of the Kent joint 'Guidance to HMO Amenity Standards' currently linked from Dover's own HMO webpage is Version 2.2.2, dated 14/8/2006 (https://www.dover.gov.uk/Housing/Private-Sector-Housing/Houses-in-Multiple-Occupation/HMO-Amenity-Standards.pdf). This predates the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018, which set national statutory minimums of 6.51 sqm (single, over-10s), 10.22 sqm (double, over-10s) and 4.64 sqm (single, under-10s) as a mandatory condition on every licensed HMO in England from 1 October 2018. Other Kent authorities (e.g. Folkestone & Hythe) publish a newer 'Version 4' of the same joint document dated 03/12/2018, but Dover's own site still serves the 2006 edition as of this research (September 2026), so the 6.5 sqm / 10 sqm figures above are Dover's own published local guidance figures, not the more recent 6.51/10.22 sqm national statutory figures — the national statutory minimums override local guidance as a matter of law wherever they differ, since they are mandatory licence conditions. |
National minimums for licensed HMOs are 6.51 m² for one adult and 10.22 m² for two adults; councils can apply higher local standards.
Fire safety requirements
- A fire detection system complying with BS 5839 is required, agreed in consultation with the council as Local Housing Authority (Kent joint HMO Amenity Standards guidance, hosted by Dover District Council).
- Emergency lighting must comply with BS 5266 where required.
- A fire blanket conforming to BS EN 3:1996 must be provided in each shared kitchen, and fire extinguishers may be required in shared kitchens and on landings, subject to the council's requirements.
- Fire doors specified by the council must conform to BS 476 Part 22 (FD30 type), be hung on three 100mm steel butt hinges, fitted with an approved self-closing device and intumescent/cold-smoke seals, with gaps not exceeding 4mm.
- The property manager/person in control must arrange a maintenance contract for fire-fighting equipment, emergency lighting and fire alarms, test the system weekly, and log all tests in a system logbook.
- The council's main HMO webpage separately confirms that all fire-fighting equipment, emergency lighting and fire alarms must be professionally serviced and subject to recorded weekly tests.
- Fire safety certificates and electrical test reports must be submitted with the licence application (per the council's HMO application requirements).
Kitchen, bathroom and amenity standards
- Kitchen, bathroom and WC provision follows the Kent joint 'Guidance to HMO Amenity Standards' (hosted on dover.gov.uk): for example, 1-4 persons require at least 1 bathroom and 1 WC; 5 persons require 1 wash hand basin per sleeping room plus 1 bathroom and 1 separate WC; 6-10 persons require 2 bathrooms and 2 separate WCs; 11-15 persons require 3 bathrooms and 3 separate WCs.
- Kitchens must be suitably located and sized: shared kitchens require a sink with constant hot/cold water and draining board per 5 occupants, a 4-ring cooker with oven and grill per 5 occupants, fixed worktop space that scales from 600mm x 1000mm (1-3 persons) up to 600mm x 3000mm (7-10 persons), and minimum kitchen floor areas scaling from 5 sqm (1-3 persons) to 11 sqm (7-10 persons).
- Bathrooms require mechanical ventilation extracting 15 litres/second to outside air in addition to any windows; kitchens require mechanical ventilation extracting 60 litres/second (or 30 litres/second if within 300mm of the hob centre line).
Documents you will need
- Gas safety certificate — Current annual gas safety certificate for all gas appliances, required with the application and required to be renewed annually and supplied to the council thereafter.
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — Electrical test report from a competent electrical engineer; the Kent joint amenity standards guidance hosted by Dover requires electrical installations to be tested every 5 years with the certificate provided to the council.
- Fire safety certificates — Evidence of fire alarm/detection system and emergency lighting compliance, referenced in the council's HMO application requirements.
- Building/floor plans — Plans of the building showing room layout, referenced in the council's HMO application requirements.
- Tenancy agreement — A copy of a current tenancy agreement for the property, referenced in the council's HMO application requirements.
Sources
Compiled from the council’s own published pages and documents; data reviewed September 2026. Rules and fees change, so always confirm with Dover District Council before applying. This is general information, not legal advice.