Decision details

To agree to change the charge for provision of a copy of the HMO Licence Public Register

Section 232 of the Housing Act 2004 requires every local housing authority to establish and maintain a register of all licences granted by them under Part 2 or 3 of the Act which are in force.

Section 232(4) requires the authority to ensure that the contents of the register are available at the authority’s head office for inspection by members of the public at all reasonable times.

To comply with this requirement, City of York Council allows members of the public to view a full copy of the HMO licence register at West Offices, with a 20 minute appointment being given when booked with the HMO Licensing team.

Section 232(5) requires the authority, to supply a person who requests it, with a copy (certified to be true) of the register or of an extract from it, which may be subject to payment of such reasonable fee (if any) as the authority may determine.

Details of what must be provided is detailed in The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006.

Fees vary between local authorities, as each sets its own charge to recover administrative costs and there is no standard national fee.

The current charge for provision of a copy of the HMO licence public register in York is £636.00, with this fee having historically been set and amended each year, in line with annual inflationary linked increases, and agreed at the Council’s annual budget council in February each year. For 2026/2027 the proposal was to increase the fee further to £668.00.


Compared to other local authorities in England, City of York Council’s fee is significantly higher than most other local authorities, with most other authoirities charging between £25 to £100 for a copy, or free of charge in some cases.

Following a review of this charge, it is proposed that this fee in York be reduced to a lower level in order to make the register more widely accessible to those requesting a copy.

On this basis, it is proposed that the HMO Licensing Public Register Fee should be reduced to a fee of £112.50 for 2025/2026 or £118.00 for 2026/2027 (the latter is subject to council budget decision-making), with this fee based upon the time taken for officers to prepare the information for release, including any necessary redaction, and time taken entering information on the database, correspondence, invoicing and so on (estimated to be around 1½ hours).

To take account of concerns over use of the data for marketing purposes, or concern over revelation of sensitive properties, it is also recommend that the Council’s webpage at https://www.york.gov.uk/private-landlords-tenants/list-hmo-licensed-properties is updated as follows:

Copies of the full HMO licence register

Under section 232 of the Housing Act 2004, City of York Council are required are obliged to maintain and make available a public register of licensed HMOs.

The register includes details of all properties for which an HMO licence has been issued but does not include details of licence applications which have been received but the licence not yet issued.

Whilst we endeavour to make the public register as comprehensive as possible, where a property houses vulnerable tenants such as persons seeking refuge from domestic abuse, this property’s details will be redacted from the register.

The information provided on these registers sets out the number of HMOs which are currently licensed by the Council and does not provide the total number of HMOs in the city as a whole. This information should not be relied upon for deciding whether a property is an HMO or not.

If you wish to find out if a property is an HMO then you should carry out additional enquiries. A small number of properties may be excluded from this list for public safety reasons.

Please be aware that York landlords have advised us that they do not wish to receive unsolicited marketing material. The publishing of licence holders' addresses on the public register does not constitute consent of the licence holders to be contacted for marketing.

A full copy of the HMO licence register can be viewed at West Offices. Contact HMO Licensing who will be able to book you a 20-minute appointment to view the full register.

Alternatively, we can provide you with an electronic copy for a fee of £112.50

1. Keeping the charge from providing a copy of the HMO Licence Public Register at the current charge level of £636.00 for 2025/26.

2. Reducing the charge to £112.50 for an electronic copy of the HMO Licence Public Register for 2025/26.

1. Keeping the charge from providing a copy of the HMO Licence Public Register at the current charge level of £636.00 for 2025/26.