HMO Statutory Standards
The HMO Statutory Standards carries 5 published figures read from 5 sources' own pages, from 3 to 5 year, read 7 November 2026.
5 of the 14 named sources read in full publish a figure; 9 publish none, read 7 November 2026.
Every figure, with its source
One row per published figure: the figure as the source's own page publishes it, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Rent Smart Wales landlord and agent licensing | 5year | 2026-10-12 |
| Housing Act 2004, Part 2 (licensing of HMOs) | 5year | 2026-11-07 |
| GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence | 5year | 2026-11-07 |
| Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Part 5 (licensing of HMOs) | 3year | 2026-11-07 |
| GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence (Scotland) | 3year | 2026-11-07 |
The sentence each figure was read from (5)
- Rent Smart Wales landlord and agent licensing, read 2026-10-12:
A licence is valid for 5 years from date of issue.
- Housing Act 2004, Part 2 (licensing of HMOs), read 2026-11-07:
That period must not end more than 5 years after—
- GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence, read 2026-11-07:
A licence is valid for a maximum of 5 years.
- Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Part 5 (licensing of HMOs), read 2026-11-07:
expires 3 years (or such shorter period of not less than 6 months as may be specified in the licence) after,
- GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence (Scotland), read 2026-11-07:
A licence usually lasts for 3 years.
Read in full, publishes no figure
9 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- The Licensing of HMOs (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- The Licensing of HMOs (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- Housing and Planning Act 2016, Part 2 Chapter 4 (civil penalties, banning orders, rent repayment orders), read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- GOV.UK private renting: houses in multiple occupation, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- GOV.UK rent repayment orders under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, read 2026-11-07: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Scottish Government: regulating the private rented sector, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- Stevenage Borough Council HMO room size standards, read 2026-11-07: every candidate on the page was refused
- Buckinghamshire Council HMO space standards and occupancy levels, read 2026-09-19: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
5 of the 14 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 9 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in year (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 87 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per jurisdiction per term - the licensing threshold, the prescribed minimum sleeping-room areas, the amenity standard, the maximum licence term, the offence and its maximum penalty, the rent repayment exposure - each quoted verbatim from the statute or the regulation with its effective date; the cross-nation comparison (England's five-plus against Scotland's three-plus, England's civil penalty ceiling against Northern Ireland's) is the figure, and changed-since is what makes it a series rather than a page
87 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (14)
- Housing Act 2004, Part 2 (licensing of HMOs)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- The Licensing of HMOs (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- The Licensing of HMOs (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Housing and Planning Act 2016, Part 2 Chapter 4 (civil penalties, banning orders, rent repayment orders)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Part 5 (licensing of HMOs)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK private renting: houses in multiple occupation(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK house in multiple occupation licence (Scotland)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- GOV.UK rent repayment orders under the Housing and Planning Act 2016(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Scottish Government: regulating the private rented sector(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Stevenage Borough Council HMO room size standards(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Buckinghamshire Council HMO space standards and occupancy levels(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Rent Smart Wales landlord and agent licensing(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
The HMO Statutory Standards carries 5 published figures read from 5 sources' own pages, from 3 to 5 year, read 7 November 2026.
5 of the 14 named sources read in full publish a figure; 9 publish none, read 7 November 2026.
Cite as: "hmolicencechecker.co.uk HMO Statutory Standards", updated 2026-11-08, https://hmolicencechecker.co.uk/datasets/hmo-statutory-standards/.
Download the CSV (5 rows, computed 2026-11-08)
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Questions this data answers
What does the law require of a licensable HMO in each UK nation, and what is the penalty for letting one without a licence?
The HMO Statutory Standards carries 5 published figures read from 5 sources' own pages, from 3 to 5 year, read 7 November 2026.
Where do the figures in the HMO Statutory Standards come from?
Every figure is quoted from its source's own page and dated (last read 7 Nov 2026). 14 named sources were read and 5 publish a figure; the 9 that publish none are recorded as not published, never estimated.