Adur: mandatory HMO licensing, with no confirmed selective scheme
Adur's current landlord guidance centres on mandatory HMO licensing for properties occupied by five or more people from more than one household. No live selective or additional designation was confirmed in the council material reviewed for this guide. That makes the occupancy test important: an ordinary family let is not licensed simply because it is in Adur, but a qualifying HMO is.
The five-person threshold
Adur describes an HMO as accommodation for at least three tenants from more than one household sharing kitchen, bathroom or toilet facilities. Mandatory licensing applies at five or more people. A three- or four-person share can therefore be an HMO without being mandatorily licensable under the current guidance - but it still has to meet the housing, fire-safety and management duties that apply to HMOs.
No local designation to assume
The official material reviewed does not confirm a live Adur selective or additional HMO designation. A March 2024 decision about Heene, Central and Selden wards concerned scoping, costing and consultation rather than proving that a scheme had commenced. Treat a consultation or feasibility decision as background, not as a licence requirement, and check the council's latest notice if your property is near a proposed area.
Check the fee before you press submit
The council's 2026-27 HMO page displays an application charge of £810 for up to five bedrooms, with an additional £55 for each unit over five. The grant-stage display shows both £485 and £470 in the same material, so the total cannot safely be presented as a single confirmed figure here. Ask the council or use the current application form for the amount in force before paying.
The register is available on request
Adur and Worthing maintain a combined HMO register, available from the private sector housing team. That is useful when checking a property, but it is not a substitute for checking the occupancy and shared-facilities test yourself. A licence is normally valid for five years, although a shorter term may be issued.
The national duties still apply
Every Adur tenancy still needs annual gas safety, a five-yearly EICR, a valid EPC, deposit protection within 30 days, Right to Rent checks, working smoke and CO alarms and the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet. The council can enforce an unlicensed HMO through prosecution or a civil penalty, but its current material does not safely confirm a precise penalty amount.
Verify current HMO definitions, fees and the register via Adur and Worthing Councils' official HMO guidance. Illustrative guide - schemes, fees and penalties change; general information, not legal advice.
Renewal tracked from expiry, reminders from 60 days out, proof of service to tenants logged. Knows the 2-month early-renewal rule that keeps your date fixed.
Five years goes quicker than you think. Kept remembers so you don't have to - including the 28-day duty to give tenants a copy.
Expiry tracked from the certificate details you confirm - band E is the current minimum for most domestic private lets unless exempt, and proposed changes are flagged only when they become law.
30-day protection window tracked from the day the money lands - not the tenancy date - with prescribed information logged.
Check dates and follow-up dates for time-limited permissions, stored against each tenant.
Smoke alarms every storey, CO alarms where required, checked and dated at the start of every tenancy.
A one-off duty for tenancies that existed on 1 May 2026. Who was served, when, and how - the £7,000 question, answered with a dated record.
Preparation and export support for the future official registration process - clearly marked as planned.
Selective licensing: No live designation confirmed. See the local picture above - every other duty applies exactly as it does nationwide.
Add a postcode and Kept resolves the council, location and local context automatically.
Planned preparation and export support for the government's regional PRS Database rollout.