West Midlands

HMO licensing in Redditch

Redditch 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 Redditch (checked September 2026). The published licence fee starts at £819.50.

Mandatory licence

5+ people, 2+ households

National scheme

Additional / selective

None in force

Mandatory licensing only

Licence fee

From £819.50

Decision time

Not published

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Licensing schemes in Redditch

Redditch 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 £819.50. Fees can depend on the number of occupants or lettings, and they are reviewed each year.

The council's HMO page states the licence (usually issued for up to 5 years) costs £163.90 per person, i.e. the fee scales linearly with the number of occupants. The same figure (£163.90 per occupant for 'Registration of housing in multiple occupation') appears as the proposed 2026/27 charge, up 2% from £160.70 in 2025/26, in the fees and charges schedule in the Executive report of 13 January 2026. totalGbp of 819.50 is derived arithmetic (5 occupants x £163.90), the smallest licensable HMO; e.g. 8 occupants would be £1,311.20. No separate renewal fee, no accredited-landlord discount and no instalment scheme is published, so renewalGbp and instalments are null. Redditch shares its Private Sector Housing team with Bromsgrove District Council but sets its own fee (Bromsgrove's website quotes a different per-person figure).

Check the current fee on the council website (redditchbc.gov.uk) before you apply.

Minimum room sizes

Single bedroom	Council-specific (Redditch & Bromsgrove Amenity Standards Guide, updated 2020, Category B shared houses): 6.5 m2 per bedroom where all occupants have access to a separate communal living room; 10 m2 where they do not. A shortfall of up to 10 per cent in one bedroom may be tolerated for student-type groups on a joint contract, subject to conditions. National legal minimum (SI 2018/616) is 6.51 m2 for one person over 10.
Double bedroom	Council-specific: 11 m2 where all occupants have access to a separate communal living room; 15 m2 where they do not. No room may be occupied by more than two persons. National legal minimum (SI 2018/616): 10.22 m2 for two persons over 10.
Child under 10	No child-specific figure in the council's guide; it states children below 10 count as a whole person for its standards (the guide predates the 2018 national room-size regulations). Fallback national minimum (SI 2018/616): 4.64 m2 for one child under 10, applied as a licence condition.

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

3 or 4 storey shared houses: half-hour fire-resisting self-closing doors (BS 476-22) to risk rooms opening onto the escape route; automatic fire detection to BS 5839-6:2004 Grade A, LD2 coverage (smoke detectors in bedrooms, living room, hall, landings; heat detector in each shared kitchen; linked to a control panel); emergency lighting to the escape route (BS 5266); a fire blanket in each shared kitchen.
2 storey shared houses: half-hour fire-resisting self-closing doors to risk rooms (a kitchen door only is acceptable where all first-floor bedroom windows meet escape-window specifications); interlinked detection to BS 5839-6 Grade D, LD2 (no control panel); emergency lighting to the escape route; a fire blanket in each shared kitchen.
Three-storey houses where the stairs descend directly into a rear living room need a half-hour protected route or a domestic sprinkler system to BS 9251 to the ground floor, in addition to the other measures (as agreed with the fire service per the guide).
The guide refers to the Homestamp fire-protection guide and the LACoRS guidance; the council's application form also asks for the current fire alarm and emergency lighting test certificates, service contract and fire risk assessment. Council guide text pre-dates BS 5839-6:2019, so confirm current specification with the council.

Kitchen, bathroom and amenity standards

Kitchens (shared houses): a conventional cooker (4 hobs, oven, grill) per 5 persons; a sink per 5 persons; 0.5 m of fixed worktop per user; 2 twin sockets per 5 persons; a 100-litre fridge with 15-litre freezer compartment per 3 persons (or an upright fridge freezer per 5); dry and utensil storage of a half base unit or single wall unit per person. For 8-10 persons at least 2 cookers and 2 sinks; for 11-15 persons at least 3 of each.
Minimum kitchen floor area: 2-5 persons 6.5 m2; 6 persons 7.5 m2; 7 persons 8.5 m2; 8 persons 9.5 m2; 9-10 persons 10.5 m2; 11 persons 11.5 m2; 12 persons 12.5 m2; 13-15 persons 13.5 m2. Shared living/dining room 11 m2 for 2-5 persons, 13 m2 for 6, plus 1 m2 per additional person.
Bathrooms: at least one bath or shower per 5 persons sharing (a shower over a bath does not count as an extra shower); every bathroom or WC compartment needs a wash hand basin with hot and cold water and a tiled splashback; bathrooms/WCs ideally no more than one floor from any bedroom (up to two floors accepted in terraced houses with ground-floor rear extensions).
WCs: one per 5 persons where separate from the bathroom, or one per 4 persons where in the bathroom.
Heating: fixed heating in all habitable rooms and bathrooms, able to reach 21 C within one hour in bedrooms and communal rooms at -1 C outside; paraffin, LPG and freestanding plug-in electric heaters not acceptable.

Documents you will need

Application for HMO licence (or variation) form — Council form; can be posted or emailed to the Private Sector Housing team (PSHTeam@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk).
Evidence of permanent address of proposed licence holder — Driving licence, recent bank statement or utility bill (residential); business rates or utility bill (business address).
Sketch plan with measurements — Showing location and size of each room and the positions of fire doors, detectors, alarm panel, emergency lighting and fire blankets.
Gas safety certificate — Current landlord's gas safety certificate.
Electrical installation periodic test certificate (EICR) — Most recent periodic test certificate for the electrical installation, plus most recent PAT certificate if applicable.
Fire alarm test certificate — Current certificate in compliance with BS 5839.
Emergency lighting test certificate — Current certificate in compliance with BS 5266.
Service contract for alarm and safety systems — Listed as an enclosure on the application form.
Fire safety risk assessment — If applicable.
Building regulations completion certificate and planning consents — If applicable (e.g. for conversions or alterations).
Licence fee — £163.90 per person; pay via the council's online payment page (Licensing > HMOs, reference the first line of the HMO address).

Sources

Compiled from the council’s own published pages and documents; data reviewed September 2026. Rules and fees change, so always confirm with Redditch Borough Council before applying. This is general information, not legal advice.