What are my rights when an HMO landlord neglects the property?
Stronger than most sharers realise. On top of the repairing duties every landlord owes, the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 impose specific management duties on whoever manages your HMO, and they apply whether or not the property needs a licence. The manager must display their contact details in the house, maintain fire safety measures, keep the water supply and drainage working, keep the common parts and each letting in repair, and provide proper waste disposal facilities. Breaching those duties is a criminal offence punishable by a fine.
That framework exists because shared houses fail in shared ways: the problems below are the ones HMO tenants report most, and each has a legal answer.
First, check the property actually is an HMO, since that's what switches these extra duties on. Under the standard test in section 254 of the Housing Act 2004, a property is an HMO when it's occupied as an only or main residence, for rent, by people who don't form a single household and who share a basic amenity such as a toilet, washing facilities or a kitchen. Government guidance puts it more simply: three or more tenants forming more than one household, sharing facilities. A single household means members of the same family, including couples, so three friends sharing qualifies where a couple and their child don't.
Problem 1: nobody maintains the common areas
The kitchen ceiling stain, the broken stair light, the hallway carpet coming away: common parts are squarely the manager's responsibility under regulation 7 of the 2006 Regulations, and the living accommodation itself under regulation 8. Individual repairing duties under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sit alongside this, covering the structure, exterior and the water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating installations.
Report faults in writing to the contact details displayed in the house, and keep copies. If nothing happens, your council's environmental health team can inspect under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System in Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 and serve an improvement notice where a serious hazard exists. Our guide to contacting environmental health explains how that route works.
Problem 2: missing gas and electrical certificates
HMO managers must keep gas and electrical safety in date: an annual gas safety certificate and an electrical installation inspection at least every 5 years are baked into regulation 6 of the 2006 Regulations, and private landlords generally must give tenants the gas safety record within 28 days of each annual check. Fire safety measures, alarms, escape routes kept clear, fall under regulation 4.
Ask for the certificates in writing. A landlord who won't produce them is telling you something, and the council can require them. In a licensed HMO, safety conditions attach to the licence itself.
Problem 3: overcrowding and tiny rooms
Licensed HMOs have minimum sleeping room sizes set by the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018: 6.51 square metres for one person over 10 years old, 10.22 square metres for two, 4.64 square metres for a child under 10, and rooms under 4.64 square metres can't be used for sleeping at all. These conditions apply to licences granted or renewed from 1 October 2018.
If your "double room" is a partitioned landing or the landlord keeps moving extra people in, the council can act against the licence holder. Overcrowding also feeds into the hazard assessment environmental health carries out.
Problem 4: the HMO has no licence
Mandatory licensing applies to HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households, and councils can extend licensing further through additional licensing schemes for other HMO categories, or selective licensing covering all private rentals in a designated area. Every council must keep a public register of licences, so you can check yours in minutes.
Operating a licensable HMO without a licence is an offence carrying an unlimited fine, and councils can impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution, a cap raised from £30,000 on 1 May 2026. For tenants, the sharpest tool is the rent repayment order: where the landlord committed the unlicensed-HMO offence, the First-tier Tribunal can order rent repaid to you for a period of up to 2 years, raised from 12 months in May 2026. You now have 2 years from the offence to apply, the tribunal doesn't need the landlord to have been convicted first if the offence is proved to the criminal standard, and orders can be made against superior landlords too, not just the person you paid. Rent-to-rent setups no longer shield the owner.
Problem 5: harassment, lock-outs and retaliation
Shared houses see more than their share of heavy-handed management: turning up unannounced, entering rooms without agreement, threats to change locks. Depriving a residential occupier of their home without a court order, or harassing them out of it, is a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Since 1 May 2026 the retaliation route has narrowed further, because Section 21 no-fault notices are gone; a landlord must prove a statutory ground for possession through the courts.
For routine access, the position is simple: you're entitled to at least 24 hours' notice of inspection visits at reasonable times, and to live undisturbed. Being an HMO tenant doesn't dilute that.
How do I complain about an HMO landlord effectively?
Work up the chain, in writing at every step:
- Report to the manager using the contact details the law requires them to display, with photos and dates.
- Escalate to the landlord if a managing agent isn't acting, and check the council's licence register to confirm who holds the licence.
- Contact the council for management failures, hazards, overcrowding or licensing gaps. Environmental health and the private sector housing team both have enforcement powers.
- Consider a rent repayment order if the property should have been licensed and wasn't. Tribunal claims are designed to be run without a solicitor.
- Keep everything: message threads, photos with timestamps, copies of certificates you were or weren't given. HMO cases are won on records.
Most HMO landlords respond once they realise a tenant knows the 2006 Regulations exist and knows the council keeps a register. For a fuller picture of your position in a shared house, see our guide to HMO tenant rights.