Norwich: mandatory HMO licensing with two different penalty bands
Norwich's current landlord material centres on mandatory HMO licensing for properties occupied by five or more tenants forming two or more households. The published five-year fee is £1,141. The council also publishes different civil-penalty bands for lower-level and more serious breaches, while its rent-repayment guidance changed for offences committed from 1 May 2026.
The licence is about occupancy, not bedrooms
Mandatory licensing applies where five or more tenants form two or more households in a qualifying HMO. Norwich asks for the property layout, room sizes, fire-safety arrangements, mortgage details, the proposed licence holder and manager, and current safety certificates. A five-year licence costs £1,141, split into a non-refundable £636 application payment and £505 after processing; renewal costs the same as a new application.
Allow twenty weeks
Norwich aims to process an application within twenty weeks, and licence conditions vary by property. A change of licence holder requires a new application, while other reportable changes can usually be made through a variation form without a fee. Temporary exemption applications are available where the property is about to stop being licensable.
The rent-repayment clock changed
Norwich's current guidance distinguishes offences before and from 1 May 2026. For an earlier offence, it describes a claim of up to twelve months' rent and a twelve-month application window. For an offence on or after 1 May 2026, it describes up to twenty-four months' rent and an application window of two years. The council may recover Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, and the tenant does not have to remain at the property.
Penalty levels depend on the breach
Norwich publishes lower-level civil penalties of up to £7,000 and more serious penalties of up to £40,000, alongside works in default, prosecution, banning orders and possible listing on the rogue-landlord database. A penalty is not a substitute for getting the licence application in before tenants move in.
Planning is not automatically covered
Norwich has an Article 4 Direction affecting office-to-residential changes, modified with effect from 22 February 2023. The accessible council material does not establish an HMO-specific Article 4 Direction, so check HMO planning separately rather than assuming that the office-to-residential direction answers the question.
Verify current fees, application requirements and enforcement figures via Norwich City Council's HMO licensing, rent-repayment and public-register pages. Illustrative guide - fees and policies 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.
Mandatory HMO licensing (5+ occupants): YES - national. 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.