HMO licence fees

Standard fee – Timely and compliant applications made within three months of the property becoming licensable.

We encourage all landlords to make timely HMO applications. As an incentive, we offer a lower rate and the option of using an independent surveyor. This applies for applications received withing three months of:

The implementation of The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description)(England) Order 2018, on 1 October 2018
The commencement of a designated additional licensing scheme
The property first being let as a licensable HMO
Becoming the person in control of the licensable HMO
The HMO licence renewal date

If your application both:

Reaches us within three months of the HMO becoming licensable by you
If you and your HMO meet all other conditions in full

There are two options:

1. Southampton City Council HMO standard rate (compliant and timely)

We must inspect your property. Once your application is complete, we will contact you to arrange this.

Your property must meet current standards. If it needs improvements to reach these, we will include those as license conditions. We will give you the details and a reasonable timescale in which to complete them.

2. The landlord independent HMO surveyor rate

To access this rate, the property needs to be compliant with all HMO standards. Before applying, you must separately instruct an independent HMO surveyor from our approved list below:

Hayden Macann
hmosurveyor@gmx.com
07863 292255
southamptonhmosurveyor.co.uk

Chris Collins
cmcpropertyservices@outlook.com
07766 335854
HMO Property Services | Independent HMO Surveyor

If you are an independent surveyor and wish to be added to the approved list, you must be a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), and hold your own insurance. For more information, please contact HMO@southampton.gov.uk.

The independent HMO surveyor will complete a Certificate of Compliance to confirm that your property meets current HMO standards.

Please note, the application fee does not include the inspection fee charged by the independent HMO surveyor. The council reserves the right to impose any necessary conditions on the licence.

To qualify for the timely and compliant rate, you must have applied for a new licence within three months of either the expiry of your previous licence or the date your property becomes subject to the HMO licensing scheme. Applications made outside of this will be charged the ‘late fee’

3. Late fee (more than three months after becoming licensable)

This rate will apply if your full and valid application does not reach us in good time. We regard this as within three months of the property becoming licensable.

We must inspect your property. You cannot instruct an independent surveyor to carry out the property inspection. Once your application is complete we will contact you to arrange an inspection.

HMO licence fees applicable from 1 October 2025

HMO licensing fees are split into two stages:

Stage one – Application fee. This covers the costs incurred by the council to process the application up to the point of the decision being made to issue or refuse the licence. This fee is non-refundable.
Stage two – Licence issue fee – This element is payable within 14 days of receipt of Notice of Intention to Grant a licence. This covers the costs of issuing the licence, as well as operating the HMO licensing scheme and associated enforcement of scheme conditions.

HMO licence	Stage one	Stage two	Total fee
Landlord Independent HMO Surveyor rate for timely and compliant applications	£300	£336	£636
Standard fee for timely & compliant applications	£300	£653	£953
Late fee for applications received after three month deadline	£300	£1,318	£1,618

Buildings owned and managed by private providers of large student accommodation who are members of and comply with Accreditation Network UK (ANUK) National Code for large student developments or any approved code or scheme of compliance, as approved under section 233, Housing Act 2004, are entitled to a 50% reduction on the fees.

Large student accommodation - This is where 15 or more students live in one building. This is either in rooms off a central corridor, cluster flats, or self-contained flats
ANUK Code of Standards - This is for larger developments for student accommodation. It applies where these are not managed and controlled by educational establishments

We need proof of scheme or code membership, and compliance, on your application. For applications of this kind please do not use the online application form. See apply for a HMO license.

Pre-application advice

We offer pre-application advisory visits and a verbal report on site for £60.

Prices are not subject to VAT.

For more information or to book, please contact us.

Refunds

When we offer refunds

We will offer a refund if you have made:

A duplicate application
An application for an exempted property by mistake
An application for a property which is not licensable under Southampton’s HMO licensing schemes

When we do not offer refunds

We will not offer a refund if:

You withdraw your application at any stage
We refuse your application
We revoke (take away) your licence
You are subsequently refused planning permission for your HMO
Your property ceases to be let as an HMO during the term of the licence

Contact HMO licensing

View our contact details.

Document	Type	Size
Additional Fees Table	pdf	81.9 KB