Section 61 — Housing Act 2004: Requirement for HMOs to be licensed

Requirement for HMOs to be licensed 61 1 Every HMO to which this Part applies must be licensed under this Part unless—

a a temporary exemption notice is in force in relation to it under section 62, or b an interim or final management order is in force in relation to it under Chapter 1 of Part 4.

2 A licence under this Part is a licence authorising occupation of the house concerned by not more than a maximum number of households or persons specified in the licence.

3 Sections63 to 67 deal with applications for licences, the granting or refusal of licences and the imposition of licence conditions.

4 The local housing authority must take all reasonable steps to secure that applications for licences are made to them in respect of HMOs in their area which are required to be licensed under this Part but are not.

5 The appropriate national authority may by regulations provide for—

a any provision of this Part, or b section 263 (in its operation for the purposes of any such provision), to have effect in relation to a section 257 HMO with such modifications as are prescribed by the regulations. A “ section 257 HMO ” is an HMO which is a converted block of flats to which section 257 applies.

6 In this Part (unless the context otherwise requires)—

a references to a licence are to a licence under this Part, b references to a licence holder are to be read accordingly, and c references to an HMO being (or not being) licensed under this Part are to its being (or not being) an HMO in respect of which a licence is in force under this Part.