Licensing in Broxbourne

• Mandatory HMO licence

  In force

  Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Broxbourne fees)

  Area

  The whole of the Borough of Broxbourne (national scheme).

  Fee

  £1,820 for 5 years

  From the council's HMO fees page: £1,820 per property for a new or renewed licence, plus £159 for each bedroom over 5 bedrooms. Paid in two parts: £910 with Part Three of the application, and a second £910 plus any extra-bedroom fee once officers have completed and approved the first series of reviews. Renewals pay the same fee. The page does not state the year the fees apply to.

  Who needs one

  Rented properties that are the tenants' only or main residence where five or more occupants make up two or more households and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet.

  Exemptions

  The council lists as not HMOs: a property where the landlord and household live with up to two tenants; a two-person flat share; no more than two single-person households; buildings occupied entirely by freeholders or long leaseholders; buildings managed or controlled by a public body, local housing authority or registered social landlord; buildings whose main use is not residential, such as religious buildings; buildings already regulated, such as care homes; and purpose-built blocks of flats unless a flat is shared by more than two tenants in two or more households.

  Apply on the council's website
  ›How we checked this

  This is the national scheme. Broxbourne publishes its own pages and fees. Apply at least eight weeks before the licence is needed, using three online forms completed in order (licence holder and manager details; property, plans, EPC, gas, electrical and fire certificates, planning consent and management; then the fit and proper person test and the first payment). A licence is 'usually valid for 5 years' and may be shorter where there are concerns over management arrangements or avoidable delays in applying. Each HMO needs its own licence. The council publishes an HMO licence public register (August 2026 edition) and 'The Borough of Broxbourne HMO Amenity Guidance and Statutory requirements' (October 2020). The HMO page says failure to license 'can result in civil penalty notices of up to £30,000 per offence, or a prosecution and possible prison sentence'. Separately from licensing, Local Plan policy H5 supports HMOs for 5 or more people only close to town centres and well served by public transport (planning, not licensing).

  Sources

  • broxbourne.gov.uk: 1
  • broxbourne.gov.uk: 2
  • broxbourne.gov.uk: 3
  • broxbourne.gov.uk: 4
  • broxbourne.gov.uk: 6

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Broxbourne.

Council source

We found no consultations when we researched Broxbourne.

We could not settle these points when we researched Broxbourne on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

• Not yet confirmed

  No housing civil penalty policy is published. Confirm whether one exists and whether it has been updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (the HMO page still quotes the old £30,000 maximum).

• Not yet confirmed

  No selective or additional licensing scheme, proposal or consultation was found on the council website (licensing and housing pages, sitemap, consultations page) or in a web search. The committee site broxbourne.moderngov.co.uk blocks automated fetching (HTTP 403), so Cabinet papers could not be checked.

• Not yet confirmed

  The HMO fee page does not state the year its fees apply to, and no standard licence conditions are published.

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Broxbourne is in East of England, where registration is planned from 15 January 2027 to 14 April 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register