LetLens / Licensing by council / Reading
Landlord licensing in Reading
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Reading let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Reading also runs additional HMO licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. A replacement selective licensing designation has already been made and is due to start.
The licence you need turns on who lives in the property. Find the line that describes your let.
- Required by national lawThe same in all 296 English councils. Not a Reading decision.
Your propertyLet to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet
You needMandatory HMO licence In force England-wide
It costs£1,500 for a 5-bedroom HMO£1500 base + £28/unit over 5
WhereEverywhere in Reading, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Reading requires on topSchemes this council chose to run, and what differs from the council next door.
Your propertyA smaller shared house the national scheme does not reach, typically 3 or 4 sharers forming 2 or more households
You needAdditional HMO licence In force
It costs£1,500 for a 4-bedroom HMO£1500 base + £28/unit over 5
WhereEverywhere in Reading. Scope, fee schedule and source
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needSelective licence Proposed, not yet in force
Where3 designated wards, not the whole of Reading. Scope, fee schedule and source
- Planning permission, a separate questionNot licensing. Whether you may create an HMO at all, decided by the council’s planning side.
Your planConverting a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4)
You needPlanning permission In force
WhereInside the designated area: part of the council area. Outside it the right still applies. The direction, its dates and its boundary
Each fee is for the example property named on its own line, from the council’s published schedule. Other sizes are priced separately; the full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.
Or open RG1 7XX, a postcode near the centre of Reading, to see what a full report looks like.
What changes next in Reading
Already decided, not yet in force. A property bought today is bought into these, so they matter more than the current position if you are still choosing.
- Selective licensing designationDate not yet setReading proposed Selective Licensing Scheme (Battle ward, phase 1; Park and Redlands to follow). Made but not in force yet, so it does not apply today.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Reading, in the council’s own words, with the designations in force, the whole published fee schedule and the source for every figure. The three regimes can stack: a property can need a licence under one and still be caught by another.
Mandatory HMO licensing In force England-wide
Fee, 5-bed HMO£1,500£1500 base + £28/unit over 5
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- HMOs occupied by 5 or more persons forming 2 or more households who share a bathroom, kitchen or toilet (mandatory HMO licensing under s55/s254-257 Housing Act 2004)
The published fee schedule
- Base fee
- £1,500
- Base fee, paid in two parts
- £1,125 on application, then £375 when the licence is granted
- Size charge
- £28 per unit above 5
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026
Other charges, all 14
- Late application (submitted more than 12 weeks after occupation) - Part A: £1,375
- Late application total (Part A 1,375 + Part B 375): £1,750
- Incomplete application charge: £50
- Missed inspection charge: £52
- Non-statutory assistance completing the form, per hour (ex VAT): £90
- Non-statutory assistance completing the form, per hour (inc VAT): £108
- Non-statutory inspection and plan assistance, up to 6 hours (ex VAT): £540
- Non-statutory inspection and plan assistance, up to 6 hours (inc VAT): £648
- Non-statutory advisory inspection, up to 2 hours (ex VAT): £180
- Non-statutory advisory inspection, up to 2 hours (inc VAT): £216
- Administration charge for copies of documents (ex VAT): £41.67
- Administration charge for copies of documents (inc VAT): £50
- Copy of an older HMO licence (7-digit reference): £50
- Partial refund of Part A fee if withdrawn before draft licence issued (not a charge): £500
Additional HMO licensing In force
Fee, 4-bed HMO£1,500£1500 base + £28/unit over 5
- Where it applies
- Council-wide
- Which properties
- Any HMO (Housing Act 2004 ss254-257) occupied by 3 or more persons comprising 2 or more households that is NOT already subject to mandatory HMO licensing - i.e. small HMOs with 3 or 4 occupiers, irrespective of the number of storeys, including individual flats occupied as HMOs in converted and purpose-built blocks
- Designations in force
- Reading Borough Council Additional Licensing Designation 2025
- Designation period
- 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2031
The published fee schedule
- Base fee
- £1,500
- Size charge
- £28 per unit above 5
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026
Selective licensing Proposed, not yet in force
- Where it applies
- 3 designated wards
- Which properties
- All privately rented properties let to a single household (single-family homes) within the designated wards; HMOs already licensed under mandatory or additional schemes would not need a separate selective licence
- Proposed
- Reading proposed Selective Licensing Scheme (Battle ward, phase 1; Park and Redlands to follow)
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Reading In force
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Reading covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. We hold 1,035 of Reading's 3,796 postcodes inside a designated area, about 27.3% of the council.
HMO Article 4 direction, part of the council area
- Area
- part of the council area
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 8 October 2012
HMO Article 4 direction, named streets
- Area
- named streets
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 31 January 2016
A licence is not planning permission
These are two separate consents from two separate parts of the council, and getting one does not give you the other. A licensing team can grant an HMO licence for a property that needed planning permission and never got it.
Where the permission was needed and is missing, the usual consequence lands on the licence. Councils commonly grant a short licence, often twelve months rather than the full term, to give the owner time to apply. If permission is not applied for, is refused, or an appeal fails, the council will generally refuse to extend and let the licence expire, and will generally refuse a fresh application outright once permission has been finally refused. At that point the property cannot lawfully be let as an HMO at all.
This is council practice rather than a statutory rule, and it varies, so confirm it with Reading before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.
The research note behind this verdict
What happens if you let without a licence
Letting or managing an unlicensed property that needs a licence is a criminal offence, under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004 for an HMO and section 95 for a property caught by selective licensing. A council can prosecute, or impose a civil penalty instead. For conduct on or after 1 May 2026 that penalty can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants and the council can also apply for a rent repayment order, which for conduct from the same date can claw back up to two years of rent, up from one, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
Both of those maxima apply only to conduct on or after 1 May 2026. Earlier conduct is still judged against the old £30,000 and twelve-month limits. Each breach is normally penalised separately, so an unlicensed portfolio in Reading multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Reading
Licensing is only one side of the sum. These are medians from real listings we have collected, with the number of listings behind each one, because a median over a handful of adverts is a different claim from a median over hundreds.
- Median room rent£714 pcmFrom 771 room listings in Reading.
- Median whole-property rent£1,504 pcmFrom 248 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£2,172 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+64%Five rooms let individually against one four-bedroom whole-property let, before the extra cost, licensing and voids that come with an HMO.
- Median sale price£335,000Across 445 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let5.4%Median whole-property rent for a year against the median sale price. Before voids, management, repairs, licensing and finance, all of which a real return has to carry.
- Gross yield, 5-room HMO12.8%Five rooms at the median room rent against the same median sale price. The higher figure is what pays for the licence, the extra management and the higher voids, rather than being profit on top of them.
- Typical household income£48,697Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure9.5%359 of 3,796 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 395 (2.5%)The Environment Agency's highest-probability zone. Lenders and insurers ask about this one by name, and it is a subset of the exposure above.
Room rent by outcode
Room rent is fairly even across Reading’s outcodes, which is worth knowing too: the council-wide median above travels reasonably well here.
| Outcode | Median room rent | Room listings | Check a postcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| RG1 | £734 pcm | 310 | Check RG1 |
| RG4 | £725 pcm | 65 | Check RG4 |
| RG2 | £700 pcm | 147 | Check RG2 |
| RG6 | £700 pcm | 96 | Check RG6 |
| RG30 | £695 pcm | 131 | Check RG30 |
Postcode districts in Reading
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 3,796 Reading postcodes. Open one of its postcode districts to see the verdict, the local rent evidence and the investment model.
Common questions
Do I need an HMO licence in Reading?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Reading let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Reading also runs additional HMO licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. A replacement selective licensing designation has already been made and is due to start. Additional HMO licensing applies across the whole council.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Reading?
£1,500 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: £1500 base + £28/unit over 5. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Reading?
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Reading covering 2 separate areas of the council, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. We hold 1,035 of Reading's 3,796 postcodes inside a designated area, about 27.3% of the council.
What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Reading?
Letting or managing a property that needs a licence without one is a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. The council can prosecute or impose a civil penalty, which for conduct on or after 1 May 2026 can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants or the council can also seek a rent repayment order covering up to two years of rent for conduct from that date, up from one year, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Each breach is normally penalised separately. Indicative only, not legal advice.
Do I need planning permission for an HMO in Reading?
Where an Article 4 direction applies, yes: it removes the permitted-development right to change a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4), so that change needs a planning application. An HMO for seven or more residents needs permission anywhere, Article 4 or not. Planning is separate from licensing, and a licence does not give you permission. Where permission was needed and not obtained, councils commonly grant a licence for about twelve months rather than the full term, and generally refuse to extend it if permission is not then granted, which leaves the property unable to be let as an HMO. Practice varies by council, so confirm it with Reading.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Reading without planning permission?
Not inside the Article 4 area. The direction removes the permitted-development right, so a change of use from C3 to C4 needs a planning application. Outside the designated area the right still applies. Check the exact address against the boundary before you commit.
About Reading
Reading is a local housing authority in South East, with a population of about 160,000 and 3,796 live postcodes indexed by LetLens. It is the licensing authority for every private rented property inside its boundary, and the local planning authority that decides whether an Article 4 direction applies.
Nearby councils
Licensing stops at the council boundary, so a street on the other side of it can carry a different scheme and a different fee.
Contact Reading
Reading licensing team · [email protected] · 0118 937 3787