HMO (House in Multiple Occupation)
A shared rental let to three or more people from different households — often requiring a council licence and extra fire-safety rules.
What counts as an HMO
Three or more unrelated people sharing a property is the rough test. The precise legal definition turns on "household" and "facilities", and local councils can go further.
Landlord responsibilities
- Licence (where required) and fit-and-proper test
- Stricter fire-safety requirements (interlinked alarms, fire doors, escape routes)
- Minimum room sizes
- HMO-specific landlord records
Where Offrly fits
Our free UK rental valuation handles standard single-let rentals. HMO rents per room typically differ from whole-house rents — use an HMO-specialist local agent for room-by-room pricing.
Why Offrly? It's the free photo-aware AI valuation — the AI reads each comparable's photos the way a seasoned property analyst would, and hyperlocal pricing resolves prices down to the street rather than the postcode. Live comparables on every query. About 30 seconds, no mandatory signup, no email.
Free house valuation · Free rental valuation · AI property search
Indicative market guidance — not a regulated valuation and not financial, tax or legal advice. Use a RICS-qualified surveyor for mortgage, insurance or probate purposes.
Does every HMO need a licence?
Mandatory licensing applies to HMOs with 5 or more people in two or more households. Many councils operate additional or selective licensing schemes that cover smaller HMOs. Always check the local authority.
Are HMOs a good investment?
Typically higher gross yield than single-let but with meaningfully higher management overhead, regulatory exposure, and void risk between tenancies.