Licensing in Swindon

• Mandatory HMO licence

  In force

  Mandatory HMO licensing

  Area

  Whole Swindon Borough Council district, separate from neighbouring Wiltshire Council. No ward or street restriction is stated for mandatory licensing.

  Fee

  Published standard fee: £1,474.11

  2026/27 fees effective 1 April 2026. New online licence up to ten occupants £1,474.11 (£800.23 on application + £673.88 on approval); above ten £1,684.70 (£905.52 + £779.18). New paper application up to ten £1,755.18 (£975.71 + £779.47); above ten £1,965.48 (£1,081.01 + £884.47). Renewal online up to ten £1,193.33 (£540.65 + £652.68); above ten £1,403.91 (£645.80 + £758.11). Renewal paper up to ten £1,474.12 (£716.00 + £758.12); above ten published total £1,684.70, although published parts £821.27 + £863.42 add to £1,684.69. Confirm that penny discrepancy with the council. First payments are non-refundable. No early-bird offer confirmed.

  Who needs one

  HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households and sharing basic facilities, subject to statutory exclusions. The council privacy notice expressly distinguishes the standard, self-contained-flat and converted-building tests and excludes purpose-built flats in blocks of three or more self-contained flats from the prescribed description.

  Exemptions

  Statutory HMO exclusions apply. Standards for converted blocks do not, by themselves, make a whole self-contained block subject to mandatory licensing.

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

  Current HMO guidance and application documents describe mandatory licensing at the five-person threshold. No operative additional or selective designation, approved future licensing scheme, defined live licensing consultation or scheme ending in the last twelve months was established by targeted council and committee searches. Generic statutory powers quoted in the privacy notice are not evidence that a discretionary scheme exists. Normal licence term is five years, exceptionally shorter. The council requires current gas, fire detection and electrical certificates, title/lease evidence and any fire risk assessment held; documents must be completed by competent people. Inspection follows application, final payment is requested before issue and routine inspections/annual certificate checks continue. The stated response target of up to 60 days is not an automatic grant. Renewal can begin 90 days before expiry on the same terms. Significant layout, occupancy, amenity, manager or person-in-control changes require a new application; so does missing renewal before expiry. Published room and amenity standards apply but a complete current standard licence-conditions document was not recovered. Old £30,000 and rent-repayment prose remains on the standards page and is not used as current legal guidance.

  Sources

  • swindon.gov.uk: houses in multiple occupation
  • swindon.gov.uk: 2
  • swindon.gov.uk: 5
  • swindon.gov.uk: guidance to completing your online hmo application (PDF)
  • swindon.gov.uk: hmo standards for shared houses and bedsits (PDF)
  • swindon.gov.uk: houses in multiple occupation privacy notice
  • swindon.gov.uk: private sector housing enforcement policy (PDF)

Council source

Swindon's civil penalty policy

We found no consultations when we researched Swindon.

We could not settle these points when we researched Swindon on 15 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain express current confirmation of whether any HMO-specific Article 4 direction has since been made. The adopted plan’s historical negative, current general planning guidance and emerging HC6 policy do not by themselves establish current absence or a new direction.

• Not yet confirmed

  Recover current adopted Renters’ Rights Act housing civil penalty policy, matrix and adoption/effective date. The currently published February 2019 enforcement policy is not evidence of a 2026 local update.

• Not yet confirmed

  Confirm the one-penny inconsistency in the above-ten-occupants paper renewal tariff: published parts total £1,684.69, published total £1,684.70. Also confirm any discretionary fee reductions not stated on the live tariff.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain current issued standard HMO licence conditions and confirm property-specific statutory exclusions. Converted-block amenity standards and generic legal powers do not establish additional licensing.

• Not yet confirmed

  Confirm any later additional/selective designation or defined licensing consultation directly with the council before relying on the current mandatory-only published licensing material. None was established by current primary searches.

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Swindon is in South West, where registration is planned from 15 August 2027 to 14 November 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register