Planning Permission and Licensing

Nottingham City Council is still issuing HMO Licences. (House in Multiple Occupation)

Do I Need Planning Permission?

You do need planning permission to convert a family home to a house in multiple occupations, and the Council does look to restrict this from happening, but not stop it completely.

• A landlord also needs planning permission to expand an HMO for the use of seven or more people.

What If my property was converted without planning permission?

If a property is converted without planning permission and is now an HMO, a landlord can be given a licence, but only for 12 months. This is to give time to apply for planning permission and to go through any appeals to the Planning Inspectorate if needed.

Licence variation 

However, even if a landlord is successful, they still need to contact the Council to get a licence variation.

• Click to Contact Landlord Licence Variation - Nottingham City Council

The Council would process this, and can then extend the term of the licence to end 5 years from the date the application was made. This is done for free, and there wouldn’t be a new fee to pay either.

Refusal

If a landlord is turned down for planning permission, and the appeal to the Planning Inspectorate is also unsuccessful, then the licence expiry date stays the same. But a landlord needs to use that remaining time to finish HMO business and return the property to being a family home.

Please remember that new applications after this are likely to be refused.

If at first a landlord is turned down for a licence or doesn’t agree with the conditions of the licence, it can be appealed at the First Tier Tribunal (FTT).

• Click here to appeal at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The licence fee is not refunded if a licence is refused.

If a landlord decides that they don’t want to operate a ‘licensable property’, they can apply for a Temporary Exemption Notice (TEN).

• Click here to download and apply for a Temporary Exemption Notice (TEN).

This allows a maximum of 3 months (but is usually only given once) to take the steps to alter the arrangements. A property doesn’t need a licence,  this could be achieved either by serving a valid notice to evict tenants or by putting the property up for sale.