Licensing in Wiltshire

• Mandatory HMO licence

  In forceMedium confidence

  Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Wiltshire guidance)

  Area

  National mandatory licensing throughout the Wiltshire Council area. Swindon is a separate authority and is not included.

  Fee

  Not yet confirmed

  Undated council webpage lists first/new/lapsed/revoked licences by lettings: up to five £375; six–ten £475; eleven–fifteen £560; sixteen–twenty £660; over twenty £750. It lists unchanged renewal £200, changed holder/property £350, variation £150 or £200 plus band difference, and incomplete-return charge £50. The application form explicitly labels the same table 2009/10, while the webpage retains other historical language. A current 2026/27 adopted fee schedule was not verified, so these published historical-looking figures are not quoted as a confirmed current payable standard fee.

  Who needs one

  HMOs occupied by five or more people across two or more households sharing basic amenities, regardless of storeys. This is confirmed by the current published enforcement policy section 16.6.1 and the post-1 October 2018 part of the HMO guidance.

  Exemptions

  The council describes two-person shares and an owner’s household with up to two lodgers as outside the HMO definition. Purpose-built-flat and other statutory exclusions require checking the national rules and council for the particular building.

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

  The current published policy section 16.6.4 expressly states no declared additional or selective licensing schemes in Wiltshire. No later designation or consultation was found in targeted council/committee searches. The HMO guidance includes the removed pre-2018 storey test above its newer 2018 expansion paragraph; the current threshold comes from the latter and policy section 16.6.1. Five-year licences are described, with shorter terms and pro-rata fees possible. Downloadable initial and renewal forms are linked. The older form’s fees and dated administrative/legal references need council confirmation. A statutory HMO and an HMO licence are distinct; absence of a discretionary licence does not remove management duties. Full Council independently confirmed adoption of the Enforcement Policy binder on 15 October 2024 (item 64, recorded vote 83 for, none against or abstaining); draft headers within the committee appendix do not by themselves mean it was never adopted. This establishes the 2024 revision, not that no later licensing/enforcement decision exists.

  Sources

  • wiltshire.gov.uk: housing houses in multiple occupation
  • wiltshire.gov.uk: 16 0 Houses in Multiple Occupation HMO
  • cms.wiltshire.gov.uk: Appendix 1 Enforcement Policy Binder (PDF)
  • wiltshire.gov.uk: HMO licence Application Form (PDF)
  • cms.wiltshire.gov.uk: ieListDocuments
  • wiltshire.gov.uk: 10 0 Civil Penalties

Council source

Wiltshire's civil penalty policy

We found no consultations when we researched Wiltshire.

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

• Not yet confirmed

  Verify the current payable HMO fees and any later adopted 2026/27 fee schedule. The live undated page reproduces the table labelled 2009/10 in its linked application form; standard_gbp remains null because current applicability of those amounts is not established.

• Not yet confirmed

  The current online policy expressly says no additional/selective schemes, but it is the 2024 policy. Check for any later designation, approved proposal or consultation before relying on that snapshot.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain any current HMO-specific C3-to-C4 Article 4 direction and its signed map, or express council confirmation of absence. The council’s Article 4 dataset directory describes character/conservation controls; the linked ArcGIS hub was not readable in this independent fetch. Generic inventory wording and searches do not certify that no HMO direction exists.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain any later RRA-updated adopted civil-penalty policy/current matrix. The September 2024 version was adopted by Full Council on 15 October 2024, independently confirmed; no later adopted revision was recovered, which does not establish current absence. updated_for_renters_rights_act remains null.

• Not yet confirmed

  The HMO guidance/form retain obsolete storey-test, fee and administrative references. Use the current national criteria and obtain council confirmation of requirements for the particular building.

• Not yet confirmed

  No standalone current standard licence-conditions document was confirmed; statutory management rules and property-specific conditions remain relevant.

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Wiltshire 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