HMO Licence Renewal: When to Start and What Changes

An HMO licence isn't a one-off purchase — it has an expiry date, and letting it lapse even briefly puts you back in unlicensed territory with all the same penalties as never having applied at all. Here's what landlords need to know about renewal.

How long does a licence last?

Most HMO licences are granted for up to five years, though a council can grant a shorter term if it has specific concerns about the property or the management arrangements. The exact expiry date is stated on your licence — it is worth diarising well in advance rather than relying on a council reminder, which is not guaranteed.

Why you should start early

Given that council processing times for a fresh application commonly run 8–16 weeks depending on the borough, waiting until your existing licence is close to expiry before starting a renewal is a real risk. We recommend starting the renewal process at least 3 months before expiry, so that even with a longer-than-average council review, there's no gap between your old licence expiring and the new one being granted.

What can change between renewals

Standards and requirements are not frozen for the life of your licence. A borough's additional licensing scheme boundaries can change, fire safety expectations can be tightened, and conditions attached to licences generally can evolve between your original application and your renewal. A renewal is not simply a formality — the council will reassess the property against current standards, not the standards that applied when you first got licensed.

Get ahead of your renewal

If your HMO licence is due to expire within the next six months, get in touch now. We will confirm your exact renewal deadline, review your property against current standards before you're assessed by the council, and handle the entire renewal application so there's no gap in your compliance.