East Hertfordshire: two-part HMO fees, and two answers on penalties

Fees from 1 April 2026, charged in two parts

For a new licence on a property with no more than five bedrooms, Part 1 is £1,157 payable at application along with any additional bedroom charge, and Part 2 is £305 payable when the draft licence is consulted on and before the final licence issues. Paying the full amount up front costs £1,432, a discount reflecting the invoicing and processing the council avoids. Renewals are cheaper: Part 1 £916, Part 2 £305, or £1,191 if paid in full at application. Each bedroom above five adds £31. The fee table is published on the council's environmental health fees and charges page and carries an explicit from 1 April 2026 stamp, so the fee year is clear.

A missed renewal costs more than the renewal

Applications for renewal must be received before the existing licence expires. Anything arriving after expiry is treated as a new application at the higher fee, which is £241 more on a five-bedroom property and more again with extra bedrooms. Applications for a new licence, a renewal and a change of licence are all made through the council's online forms, and East Herts participates in the GOV.UK change-of-licence service.

The register has a caveat worth reading

A public register of licensed HMOs is published as a PDF, most recently dated 16 September 2026, and the council notes that several properties in the process of renewing do not appear on the current register. Read that caveat before treating an absence as a compliance failure: it cannot be used to prove that a property is unlicensed. The council also states that it does not condone direct marketing to the individuals named in it.

Planning: C3 to C4 permitted development, as far as published

The council's own HMO page describes the national position rather than a local restriction: Use Class C4 covers small HMOs of up to six residents, Use Class C3 covers dwelling houses, and there is a permitted change from C3 to C4 and back. Larger HMOs are sui generis and need planning permission, and any application needs a fee. The Article 4 activity found on the East Herts site relates to conservation areas confirmed in November 2017 for Bishop's Stortford, a direction around Box Wood and Stevenage Road, and designated employment sites, none of which is an HMO control. Because neighbouring Hertfordshire districts have used HMO Article 4 directions, whether one applies here is UNVERIFIED - could not confirm on council website, so confirm it for the address with planning rather than inferring it from a neighbouring district.

Whether East Hertfordshire operates selective or additional licensing is also UNVERIFIED - could not confirm on council website. The HMO pages refer to other districts requiring a licence under additional or selective licensing, which is a statement about other councils rather than about East Herts, and no designation page or public notice was found. Ask the council directly whether any designation covers the postcode, and note that the term of a licence and any instalment option beyond the two-stage payment are not published either.

Verify current designations via East Hertfordshire District Council's Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence page, its HMOs page, its Environmental Health Fees and Charges page and its conservation areas page. Illustrative guide - scheme boundaries and dates change; general information, not legal advice.