HMO Licence in Manchester: Fee, Who Needs One and How to Apply

The fee, from Manchester’s own page

New application (5 occupants): Admin Fee £865 + Grant Fee £456 = Total £1,321. Bands rise with occupants: 6-9 £1,421, 10-14 £1,521, 15-19 £1,621, 20-24 £1,721, 25-49 £1,821, 50+ £2,721. Renewal Application (5 occupants) shown as £1,321 total (£865 admin+£456 grant) per the 'Renewal Application (£200 discount)' table on the same page: 5 occ Admin £665 + Grant £456 = £1,121; 6-9 £1,221; 10-14 £1,321; 15-19 £1,421; 20-24 £1,521; 25-49 £1,621; 50+ £2,521. No explicit fee-year label on page;

Fee is banded by number of occupants, not flat. fee_new_gbp/fee_renewal_gbp above use the 5-occupant band (mandatory minimum). Additional/selective/Article 4 details not yet verified for Manchester.

Manchester’s new-licence fee sits below the median of the 34 councils whose fee we could read from their own pages (£1,364). The cheapest verified is Islington at £288 and the dearest Lambeth at £2,530; fee structures differ — some charge per room or in occupancy bands, so a large HMO can cost far more than the headline figure above.

Who needs a licence in Manchester

The national rule is the same everywhere in England and Wales — gov.uk: “You must have a licence if you’re renting out a large HMO in England or Wales. Your property is defined as a large HMO if all of the following apply: it is rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household; some or all tenants share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities; at least 1 tenant pays rent (or their employer pays it for them).” … “A licence is valid for a maximum of 5 years. You must renew your licence before it runs out. You need a separate licence for each HMO you run.” Whether a smaller shared house needs a licence depends on whether the council runs an additional or selective scheme:

Additional licensing (smaller HMOs): not confirmed either way on the pages we read (Manchester's HMO fee table appears to cover both mandatory and additional HMOs under one 'HMO fees' schedule but this was not separately confirmed.) — check the council’s licensing pages before letting to fewer than five.

Selective licensing (all private lets in an area): yes. Selective licensing scheme areas (see manchester.gov.uk selective licensing fees page). Page also has a separate 'Selective licensing fees' table on the same URL; not extracted in this pass. Inside a selective area every private tenancy needs a licence, HMO or not.

Letting a licensable HMO without a licence is an offence; the penalties, rent repayment orders and the fee’s tax treatment are on the HMO licence in England guide.

The Manchester numbers around an HMO

• How many HMOs: the council estimated 5,000 HMOs in Manchester, of which 3,500 were mandatory-licensable and 2,291 licences had been issued (LAHS 2024-25, MHCLG) — every council’s figures.
• Rents: the average 4+-bedroom rent in Manchester is £2,005 a month (ONS, July 2026) against £1,365 across all sizes — rents, prices and yield in Manchester.
• EPC: 26% of EPCs lodged here in the last year were below band C, the level a rented home needs by 1 October 2030 (EPC ratings in Manchester).
• Council tax: Band D is £2,312 for 2026/27; in an HMO let room by room the landlord is usually the liable person (council tax in Manchester).

How to apply

Applications go to the council, not to a national body. Have the floor plans, gas and electrical certificates, fire-safety details and the manager’s details ready; most councils take a non-refundable first payment on submission and the balance on grant (the quote above shows where Manchester splits its fee, if it does).

Apply or check on Manchester’s site

All councils compared · Student HMOs and Ground 4A · Renters’ Rights Act rules