Why Some Landlords Avoid HMO Licensing — And What It Really Costs Tenants

Because Nothing Says “Professional Housing Provider” Like Avoiding the Law for Profit.

⚠️ Disclaimer: Satire Ahead (With Uncomfortably Real Facts)

Before we begin, let’s get the legal niceties out of the way: the following piece is satirical, which means it is jokingly serious about a deeply serious issue. If you are a landlord, letting agent, council officer, or tenant, this piece is meant to inform through mockery. If you are thinking of not licensing your HMO… please read this twice. And then reconsider your life choices.

How to Be the Invisible Landlord (And Why You’ll Love It)

So you’ve got yourself a beautiful HMO, a fine British acronym for House in Multiple Occupation. That’s council-speak for “a bunch of strangers living together and sharing a toaster that looks like it fought in a war.”

The Legal Bit You’re Supposed to Do:

If your property fits the definition of an HMO under the Housing Act 2004, you must license it. Especially if:

It has 5 or more people in 2 or more households, and
They share facilities (bathroom, kitchen, grim optimism), and
It’s their main residence.

The purpose of licensing is to make sure your tenants are:

Not sleeping in a fire trap.
Not ingesting mould spores as their daily fibre.
Living somewhere with at least one smoke alarm that works and isn’t blu-tacked to the ceiling.

But If You Don’t License It…

Well, my friend, welcome to the sweet spot of passive income without regulatory intrusion.

Because if you don’t license, you get:

No inspections.
No improvement notices.
No fines (unless you get caught).
No tenant bothering you about their “legal rights.”

It’s like being in a dodgy Airbnb… permanently. Except there’s no five-star rating, just five fire hazards.

What You Gain by Not Licensing Your HMO (Besides a Tidy Profit and Possibly a Visit from Environmental Health)

Let’s unpack the perks of the “No Licence, No Problem” school of landlordism.

1. Avoid Annoying Upgrades

When you license, the council might insist you install:

Fire doors (expensive).
A mains-linked smoke alarm system (very expensive).
Ventilation and heating that works (who do they think you are, British Gas?).

Without a licence?
You can keep those hollow-core bedroom doors that double as crisp packets. Fire exits? Just tell tenants to “jump and roll.”

2. Set the Rent You Want – No Questions Asked

Licensing sometimes triggers scrutiny. The council might ask, “Why are you charging £795 for a single room in a converted airing cupboard?”

But if you’re not licensed, you can:

Charge what you like.
Avoid local rent caps.
Keep the council blissfully ignorant of your rent-gouging empire.

You’re not breaking the rules. You’re quietly pretending they don’t apply to you. Like a toddler in a Spider-Man suit.

3. Bypass Fit and Proper Tests

You know that awkward thing where the council checks if you’ve:

Been convicted of fraud, harassment, violence or housing offences?
Been fined by another council?

When you don’t license your HMO, you don’t need to pass this test. Because nobody’s testing you.

Even if your last property burned down in suspicious circumstances, hey new tenants, new town, clean slate!

4. No Paper Trail = No Problems

Licensing creates a pesky thing called accountability. But if you don’t license, everything’s chill:

No official record of your property being an HMO.
No council involvement.
No obligation to be… you know… responsible.

Letting strangers live in unsafe conditions is so much easier when nobody’s watching.

How to Keep It Quiet (The Rogue’s Playbook)

So, you want to stay under the radar. Here’s how other, definitely fictional landlords do it:

Keep the Headcount Fuzzy

Tell tenants to say they live alone “for insurance purposes.”
Let rooms to “couples only” so you can cram 7 people into a 3-bed.
Use short-term “lodger agreements” and switch names frequently. Bonus: confuse the postman so badly he leaves your mail at the kebab shop.

Don’t Put Up a To-Let Sign

No sign = no suspicion.
Let via WhatsApp, Facebook Marketplace, or those dodgy corner-shop ads with numbers written in biro.

Use a Letting Agent Who Doesn’t Ask Questions

Many agencies will happily take 10% of your rent as long as they don’t have to speak to the council.

Pro tip: If your agent’s website has Comic Sans and a contact number that goes straight to voicemail, you’ve probably found a winner.

Who Loses When You Win? (Spoiler: Tenants. Always Tenants.)

Fire Safety? Overrated.

The most common reason for HMO fines is no fire escape. Or fire doors. Or fire alarms. Or fire extinguisher. Or fire plan. Or… you get it.

Unlicensed HMOs are 4 times more likely to fail basic fire safety standards. Because nothing builds character like crawling out a window during a chip-pan blaze.

“Maintenance” is Just a Suggestion

Licensing usually requires minimum room sizes, decent plumbing, and timely repairs.

When unlicensed:

You can ignore broken heating in February.
You can say “black mould builds immunity.”
You can keep communal areas looking like Fallout 3.

Tenants Can’t Claim Rent Back (Unless They Discover Your Secret)

If tenants realise the HMO should be licensed and isn’t, they can apply for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) and potentially get back 12 months of rent.

But only if they know. And unless they’re unusually curious or legally literate, they probably won’t. That’s the game.

So as long as your tenants are new to the UK, speak limited English, or are just desperately grateful to have a roof, you’ll probably be fine.

Legal Consequences (aka, What Happens If You Get Caught)

Oops. So you got rumbled.

Here’s What Can Happen:

Fined up to £30,000 per offence.
Banned from managing properties (this is a badge of honour in some landlord WhatsApp groups).
Forced to repay up to 12 months’ rent to each tenant via an RRO.
Added to the Rogue Landlord Database, which is like the naughty step of housing.

“I didn’t know” isn’t a defence. The law assumes you’ve read the Housing Act in bed every night since 2004.

Still, many landlords avoid this fate because enforcement is patchy and underfunded. Which brings us to…

Councils Knows, But Can’t Always Act

Here’s the sad truth: councils know rogue HMOs exist. But many lack:

Staff
Time
Budgets
Legal backup

So unless:

A tenant reports you, or
The neighbours complain, or
Your roof collapses during a TikTok dance challenge,

…you might get away with it. For a while.

Stories (And What They Tell Us)

London Landlord Fined £100,000

In 2021, one landlord was fined over £100k for illegally renting out multiple unlicensed HMOs with shocking conditions, mould, overcrowding, no fire escapes. He pleaded ignorance. The judge replied: “You knew exactly what you were doing.”

Flat With 12 Beds in One Room

A property was raided in 2022. One room had 12 bunk beds in it. The landlord had never applied for a licence. They were banned for 5 years and had to repay £76,000 in rent.

Case: The “Sink of Doom”

Tenants shared a kitchen with one sink… clogged since 2018. The council discovered it in 2023 and described it as “an ecosystem”. The property? Unlicensed, of course.

Resources for Tenants (aka, How to Fight Back)

If you’re living in an unlicensed HMO or think you might be, here’s what to do:

Check if your HMO is licensed:
Use your local council’s property licensing checker.
Example: Redditch HMO Register
Report concerns anonymously:
Councils accept anonymous tips. Search “report unlicensed HMO + your council”.
Apply for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO):
Guides available at:
Join a union:
ACORN and London Renters Union help tenants hold rogue landlords accountable.