North East
HMO licensing in Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland Borough 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 Redcar and Cleveland (checked September 2026). The published licence fee starts at £600.
Mandatory licence
5+ people, 2+ households
National scheme
Additional / selective
None in force
Mandatory licensing only
Licence fee
From £600
Decision time
Not published
Licensing schemes in Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland Borough 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 £600. Fees can depend on the number of occupants or lettings, and they are reviewed each year.
Redcar and Cleveland charges a single HMO licence fee scaled by the number of lettings in the property, published on the council's House in Multiple Occupancy page: £600 for up to and including 4 lets, £650 for up to 6 lets, £700 for up to 8 lets, £750 for up to 10 lets, and £750 plus £10 per additional let above 10. On top of this, a one-off Fit & Proper Person check costs £30 for the licence holder and £30 for a manager (if different) — only one such check is needed regardless of how many licences/properties a person holds. An optional £50 support service is available for help completing the application. The licence lasts up to 5 years, is non-transferable, and a further fee is payable on renewal (the council does not publish a separately discounted renewal rate — the same scaled fee table applies). No refund is given once an application has been received, and no instalment plan is published — full payment is required before a licence is issued.
Check the current fee on the council website (redcar-cleveland.gov.uk) before you apply.
Minimum room sizes
| Single bedroom (national mandatory minimum) | 6.51 m² minimum floor area for one person aged 10 or over, applied by Redcar and Cleveland via its licence conditions, per the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018. |
|---|---|
| Double bedroom (national mandatory minimum) | 10.22 m² minimum floor area for two persons aged 10 or over sharing a room (same source). |
| Child's bedroom (national mandatory minimum) | 4.64 m² minimum floor area for one child under 10 (same source). |
| Measurement rule | Any part of a room with a ceiling height below 1.5m is excluded from the floor area calculation, and space occupied by an en-suite bathroom does not count towards the sleeping room's floor area. |
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
- Redcar and Cleveland's detailed HMO amenity and fire-safety standard is issued directly with the licence application pack rather than published as a standalone document online, so Foldstead could not independently verify council-specific numeric fire-safety requirements beyond the national mandatory licence conditions below.
- As with all licensed HMOs in England, a working smoke alarm is a mandatory condition on every storey used as living accommodation, kept in proper working order, with a declaration of its condition and positioning supplied to the council on demand.
- A carbon monoxide alarm is a mandatory condition in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance (other than a gas cooker).
- Fire safety, gas safety and electrical safety certificates must be kept current and valid throughout the period the property is licensed and rented, and the council may request copies at any time.
- The council states it will confirm any further, property-specific licence conditions (including fire precautions) when an application is made.
Kitchen, bathroom and amenity standards
- The council's published position is that 'the HMO must have an adequate size and the correct facilities for the number of occupants' — the detailed numeric amenity standard (bathroom/kitchen ratios) is issued with the application pack rather than published online, so Foldstead could not independently verify Redcar and Cleveland-specific figures.
- Gas safety, electrical safety and an Energy Performance Certificate must be kept updated and valid for as long as the property is rented, with copies supplied to the council on request.
- The licence holder and any manager must have no relevant criminal record or breach of landlord law/code of practice to pass the mandatory 'fit and proper person' test.
Documents you will need
- Gas safety certificate — Valid gas safety certificate to be kept current and supplied to the council on request, where gas is supplied to the property.
- EICR — Valid electrical safety certificate (EICR) to be kept current throughout the licence.
- Fire safety certificate — Evidence of fire safety measures/certification appropriate to the property, kept valid throughout the licence.
- EPC — Valid Energy Performance Certificate for the property.
- Fit and proper person declaration — Declaration of no relevant unspent criminal convictions or breaches of landlord law/code of practice, for the licence holder and any manager.
Sources
Compiled from the council’s own published pages and documents; data reviewed September 2026. Rules and fees change, so always confirm with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council before applying. This is general information, not legal advice.