Birmingham guide
HMO licensing in Birmingham
Birmingham City Council enforces the national mandatory HMO scheme, runs a city-wide additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs, and runs selective licensing in designated wards. If your property falls under any of them, you must hold a licence before letting. This guide walks through the fees, conditions, application process and the documents the council asks for.
Birmingham licence fees
The fee depends on which scheme applies to your property. The amounts and how you pay are set by the council.
- Mandatory HMO licence: £1,125 for an HMO with 5 occupants. It is paid in two parts: £420 (Part A, the non-refundable application fee) and £705 (Part B, the licence fee). Larger HMOs pay more, and a renewal costs the same as a new application.
- Additional licence: £755 for a smaller HMO (3 or 4 occupants from 2 or more households), a single fee per licence.
- Selective licence: £700 for a privately rented single-household property in one of the designated wards, paid in two parts.
Sourced from the council: mandatory HMO fee schedule, additional licensing, selective licensing. The mandatory schedule is the council's latest published one (approved March 2022). Always re-confirm the fee with the council before applying.
Key conditions in Birmingham
What the council expects from an HMO before it will grant a licence.
- Three scheme categories —mandatory licensing (five or more occupiers from two or more households), city-wide additional licensing (three or four occupiers from two or more households), and selective licensing for single-household lets in designated wards.
- 5-year term —a mandatory licence can run for up to five years from grant. Confirm the term for the other schemes with the council.
- Fit-and-proper checks —the proposed licence holder and the manager are assessed for suitability, including no unspent convictions, no breach of landlord duties and a clean HMO/management record.
- Property standards —amenity and room-size standards (minimum bedroom sizes, kitchen and bathroom per occupant), adequate facilities, and reasonable state of repair.
- Waste and fire safety —appropriate refuse storage, working smoke/heat alarms and a current fire risk assessment.
- Gas, electrical and EPC —up-to-date gas safety (CP12), an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the property.
How to apply
The application is online via the Birmingham City Council website. Plan for roughly two months from submission to decision.
- 1Confirm the postcode — enter it into the postcode check to see which schemes apply to the property.
- 2Gather the 5-document checklist — see below; these go with the application.
- 3Submit via the BCC online form — the council's HMO application portal collects property, owner and manager details.
- 4Council decision (8-week target) — the council aims to determine a complete application within ~8 weeks; incomplete applications slow this down.
- 5Pay the fee — Part A with the application, Part B once the council has inspected and is ready to grant — and receive the licence to display at the property.
Document checklist
The five documents the council expects with every new HMO application in Birmingham.
- Gas safety certificate (CP12) — within the last 12 months.
- EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report, dated within the last five years.
- EPC — valid Energy Performance Certificate for the property.
- Floor plan with room dimensions — to scale, showing every room and the stated dimensions.
- Fire risk assessment— current assessment of the property's means of escape, alarms and compartmentation.