Do I need a HMO licence to rent my entire property on Airbnb

[Gemma36]

I have been letting my entire property on Airbnb for a few months 

the next door neighbour obviously doesn't like this & has reported it to the local council 

the letter from the council is a section 171 which says I am letting my property out as a HMO & short term let without permission 

i presume this means without a HMO licence 

it's a 4 bedroom terrace house so up to 8 guests can stay there 

there are two bedrooms on the first floor & two bedrooms on the second floor 

does this mean I have to have a HMO licence? It says on www.gov.uk that a HMO licence is required if there are 5 or more people renting from more than 1 household 

Is this applicable when a Airbnb guest books to stay in my property & there might be people in the group who are not related do I need to get a HMO licence or permission for letting short term? 

Any advice is greatly appreciate thanks ! d 

[Clare0]

@Gemma36i Being in the US, I'm not sure what a HMO is, but if it is the equivalent of what we call Home Owners Association (HOA) then yes, you would need to follow the rules dictated by them.  I may be way off base not knowing what a HMO is so please clarify. 🙂

[Sandra126]

I imagine you need to reduce the amount of guests you have staying, or get a licence! Where I am the cap is 5 also.

[Hamid-Reza0]

HMO is applied when the occupiers rent the property as "occupier's only or main residence" AIRBNB users are definitely not subject into this, so you'll need a change of use planning application that will allow short term rental for more than 90 days in a year, legally you are allowed to short let your house under 90 days in one calendar year, so if you require more than 90 day , your very likely to require to apply for that change of use, It would be easier to know which borough you are from

[Lovekesh0]

Hi @Gemma36 , what did finally happen? Did you have to take an HMO license?

I looking to buy a property specifically for this purpose so it would interesting to know what happened in your case. 

Thanks.

[Shimmy1]

Hi,

Any news on this subject?

[Saima8]

Hi this is really interesting, I’m also looking forward to know how did it go!

[Saima8]

I’ve also invested in a 4 bedroom townhouse. Main floor has living , dinning and kitchen with a powder room and 2nd n 3rd floors have 2 bedrooms and one full bathroom each. I’m in the process of furnishing it currently but really keen to know how to have multiple guests in one listing?

[Helen3]

You need to set up a separate listing for each room @Saima8 

And make sure you have appropriate house rules for how communal areas should be maintained, quiet times etc.

and also an appropriate cleaning process around maintaining communal areas and turnovers .