South East
HMO licensing in Waverley
Waverley 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 Waverley (checked September 2026). The published licence fee starts at £807.70 (£710.50 to renew).
Mandatory licence
5+ people, 2+ households
National scheme
Additional / selective
None in force
Mandatory licensing only
Licence fee
From £807.70
Renewal £710.50
Decision time
Not published
Licensing schemes in Waverley
Waverley 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 £807.70, and £710.50 to renew. Fees can depend on the number of occupants or lettings, and they are reviewed each year.
Published directly on Waverley Borough Council's 'House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence' page: £807.70 per property for new applications; £710.50 per property for renewals (after five years); an additional charge of £30.60 for 11-15 units of accommodation and £12.20 for each unit above 15. A discount of £25 is available for members of an approved landlords association. A separate £100 late-application charge applies where a licence was required but not applied for, or where an application had insufficient information (the council may also issue a shorter-than-5-year licence in that case). Fees are flat per property (with a small per-unit surcharge only once a property exceeds 10 units of accommodation), not scaled by bedroom count generally.
Check the current fee on the council website (waverley.gov.uk) before you apply.
Minimum room sizes
| Single bedroom | 6.51 m² for a bedroom occupied by a single adult where the HMO has a separate living room; 9.5 m² where there is no living room. Council's own published standard (HMO Licence page). |
|---|---|
| Double bedroom | 10.22 m² for a bedroom occupied by a couple where the HMO has a separate living room; 13 m² where there is no living room. Council's own published standard. |
| Child under 10 | Not separately published by Waverley on its HMO licence page; national fallback per SI 2018/616 applies: 4.64 m² for a child under 10. |
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
- Means of escape in case of fire and other fire precautions assessed with reference to the LACORS Fire Safety Guide, per the council's published HMO standards.
- Absence of serious hazards under the Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a stated standard.
- Gas and electrical safety are listed as core HMO standards, alongside furniture fire safety compliance.
- A current Installation and Commissioning Certificate, or periodic inspection certificate, for any automatic fire detection system must be submitted with the application.
Kitchen, bathroom and amenity standards
- The council's published standards require 'amenities such as kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and wash hand basins' appropriate to the number of occupants, and an 'appropriate number of occupants for the property size and provision of facilities,' but the HMO Licence page does not publish specific kitchen/bathroom sharing ratios or minimum kitchen floor areas — applicants should confirm exact ratios with Private Sector Housing, as they were not found published on waverley.gov.uk during this research.
Documents you will need
- Gas safety certificate — Current gas safety certificate required if the property has a gas supply, per the council's HMO Licence page.
- Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) — Electrical installation inspection certificate completed within the previous 5 years.
- Fire detection system certificate — Installation and Commissioning Certificate, or periodic inspection certificate, for any automatic fire detection system.
- Floor layout plan — A plan of the floor layout showing the size of rooms (similar to an estate agent's plan) — required for new applications only, not for renewals.
- Licence fee payment — Payable at the end of the online application.
Sources
Compiled from the council’s own published pages and documents; data reviewed September 2026. Rules and fees change, so always confirm with Waverley Borough Council before applying. This is general information, not legal advice.