South East
HMO licensing in Thanet
Thanet 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 Thanet (checked September 2026). The published licence fee starts at £1,561 (£1,393 to renew).
Mandatory licence
5+ people, 2+ households
National scheme
Additional / selective
None in force
Mandatory licensing only
Licence fee
From £1,561
Renewal £1,393
Decision time
Not published
Licensing schemes in Thanet
Thanet Cabinet has approved a budget to prepare a new selective licensing scheme for eight wards in Margate and Ramsgate (about 12,000 privately rented homes). No public consultation has opened yet and no dates have been published; the council's 2026 housing strategy says it is proposing to consult. The previous Margate selective scheme has expired.
- Announced
- 28 August 2025
Verified 24 September 2026
Licence fees
The published fee for a new HMO licence is £1,561, and £1,393 to renew. Fees can depend on the number of occupants or lettings, and they are reviewed each year.
Thanet operates a two-part fee (Application Fee + Compliance Fee) with a discount tier for landlords accredited through the Kent Landlord Accreditation Scheme (KLAS/ATLAS) or the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA). Standard 2026/27 rates for new applications and late renewals (2-8 units): Application Fee £1,033 + Compliance Fee £528 (accredited) = £1,561 total, or + Compliance Fee £728 (non-accredited) = £1,761 total; each additional unit above 8 adds £41 to the Application Fee. Early renewal (application made at least 6 weeks before the existing licence expires) is discounted: Application Fee £865 + Compliance Fee £528 (accredited) = £1,393, or + £728 (non-accredited) = £1,593. The Application Fee is payable on submission; the Compliance Fee is requested only after the council has assessed the application as valid and proposes to grant a licence. Fees are stated as non-refundable if an application is later withdrawn. Figures below use the standard (non-early-renewal) 2-8 unit accredited-landlord total as totalGbp, and the early-renewal accredited total as a proxy for renewalGbp, since Thanet's fee structure does not otherwise distinguish a separate 'new' vs 'renewal' figure beyond the early/late renewal split. Two-part fee: Application Fee is paid at submission; Compliance Fee is only requested and paid after the council has assessed the application as valid and decided a licence can be proposed.
Check the current fee on the council website (thanet.gov.uk) before you apply.
Minimum room sizes
| Single bedroom | 6.51 m² minimum floor area (national HMO space standard). |
|---|---|
| Double bedroom | 10.22 m² minimum floor area (national HMO space standard). |
| Child under 10 | 4.64 m² minimum floor area (national HMO space standard). |
| Notes | Thanet's own 'Important changes to mandatory licensing of HMOs' page confirms the council applies 'absolute minimum room sizes for bedrooms in licensable HMOs' following the October 2018 changes, but does not itemise the specific dimensions on its public pages. Figures above are the national statutory minimums under the Licensing of HMOs (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018, applied here as an explicit fallback, not a confirmed bespoke Thanet figure. |
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
- Thanet's own HMO page states as a standard licensing condition: 'Smoke alarms must be installed in the house and they must be kept in proper working order at all times.'
- No further Thanet-specific fire-safety itemisation (fire doors, alarm grades, emergency lighting) was found on the council's public HMO pages; landlords are directed to contact the Private Sector Housing Team (01843 577437 / housing.licensing@thanet.gov.uk) for the full standards used in assessment.
Kitchen, bathroom and amenity standards
- Thanet's licensing decision framework requires that 'the house is or can be made suitable for multiple occupation,' but specific numeric kitchen/bathroom ratios are not published on the council's public HMO pages.
- Landlords of licensable HMOs must adhere to the council's refuse/waste schemes, introduced as a compliance requirement alongside the October 2018 mandatory-licensing changes, to address waste problems associated with HMOs.
Documents you will need
- Application form and information pack — Thanet's Private Sector Housing Team issues an application form with accompanying notes; specific supporting-document requirements are confirmed on request (01843 577437 / housing.licensing@thanet.gov.uk) rather than itemised on the public HMO page.
- Gas safety certificate — Current certificate, required generally for licensable HMOs with gas appliances under the national mandatory licence conditions.
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — Current EICR, required generally for licensable HMOs under the national mandatory licence conditions.
Sources
Compiled from the council’s own published pages and documents; data reviewed September 2026. Rules and fees change, so always confirm with Thanet District Council before applying. This is general information, not legal advice.