Reading: borough-wide additional HMO licensing from March 2026
Reading's new borough-wide additional HMO licensing scheme came into force on 1 March 2026 and runs to 28 February 2031 unless revoked earlier. It catches HMOs occupied by three or more people from two or more households, including flats in converted or purpose-built blocks. Selective licensing proposals remain proposals, not a current designation.
Three people is the new trigger
The additional scheme covers HMOs occupied by three or more people forming two or more households, so it catches the smaller share that mandatory licensing misses. It also includes individual flats in converted or purpose-built blocks. Five or more occupants from two or more households remains the national mandatory HMO test. Reading's scheme is borough-wide, so the address question is simpler than in a ward-based designation: count the occupants and households first.
The scheme runs to one fixed date
The designation was made on 13 November 2025 and became effective on 1 March 2026, with an expiry of 28 February 2031 unless revoked sooner. Licences last up to five years and may be shortened. A licence issued late in the designation does not give you a new five-year window beyond the scheme, so add the scheme end date to your records as well as the licence expiry.
A licence cannot be transferred
Reading licences are not transferable. A sale or change of licence holder means a new application, with the new fee and supporting documents, rather than a renewal or simple name change. Applications are made through the council-linked Home Safe portal, and the council provides an address-checking facility and public HMO register.
Selective proposals are not live licensing
Reading has considered selective licensing in Battle, Park and Redlands wards, but the current council decision material describes those proposals as postponed or deferred, with Battle postponed to 2027. Do not treat a consultation, committee report or proposed designation as a current requirement to licence an ordinary family let.
The risk of getting it wrong
Operating without a required licence may lead to an unlimited fine on summary conviction or a civil penalty of up to £30,000. Tenants or the council may seek a rent repayment order covering up to twelve months' rent or housing benefit. A Reading licence sits on top of annual gas safety, five-yearly EICR, valid EPC, deposit protection, Right to Rent, alarms and Renters' Rights Act duties.
Verify the designation, address checker and current register via Reading Borough Council's additional licensing and HMO application guidance pages. Illustrative guide - designations and fees 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.
Additional HMO licensing (3+ occupants): YES - borough-wide to 28 Feb 2031. 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.