LetLens / Licensing by council / Torbay

Landlord licensing in Torbay

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Torbay let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Torbay runs no additional or selective licensing scheme of its own, so smaller shared houses and ordinary rentals do not need a council licence here.

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 Torbay 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£2,007, the same for an HMO of any size
WhereEverywhere in Torbay, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
What Torbay 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 needNo additional HMO licence No scheme
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needNo selective licence No scheme
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 None in force
WhereNo direction here, so this is normally permitted development. 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. The full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.

Most recent source check: 6 August 2026. Each figure below carries the date its own source was read.

Or open TQ2 6RE, a postcode near the centre of Torbay, to see what a full report looks like.

Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it

Which properties each scheme catches in Torbay, 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

Set by national law, not by the council. Any property let to five or more people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet needs a licence, anywhere in England.

Licence fee, any size£2,007

Where it applies: National scheme
Which properties: HMOs occupied by 5 or more persons forming 2 or more households who share basic amenities (kitchen, bathroom or toilet) - mandatory HMO licensing under s55/s254 Housing Act 2004 (Prescribed Description Order 2018). Purpose-built blocks of 3+ self-contained flats are exempt.

The published fee schedule

Fee: £2,007
Paid in two parts: £485 on application, then £1,522 when the licence is granted
Renewal: £1,709
Licence term: Up to 5 years

Other charges

New application (enforced) - full fee where the Council discovers an unlicensed HMO: £2,859
New application (enforced) - Part 2 (managing the licence): £2,374
Renewal application - Part 1 (processing, non-refundable): £428
Renewal application - Part 2 (managing the licence): £1,281
Renewal application (enforced) - full fee where renewal is submitted after expiry: £2,054
Renewal application (enforced) - Part 2 (managing the licence): £1,626

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Additional HMO licensing No scheme

A council may extend HMO licensing to smaller HMOs, typically three or four sharers, across all or part of its area.

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Selective licensing No scheme

A council may require a licence for every private rented home in a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO.

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Torbay None in force

No HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Torbay, so converting a house into a small HMO occupied by no more than six residents (use class C4) is normally permitted development and does not need planning permission on those grounds. An HMO for seven or more residents falls outside class C4 and needs permission anyway.

The research note behind this verdict

No in-force Article 4 direction removing the C3->C4 small-HMO permitted development right could be found for Torbay. Torbay Council's official 'Conservation area appraisals / Article 4 areas' page enumerates exactly two Article 4 directions, both heritage/conservation-only and therefore excluded per the rules: (1) Churston Conservation Area Article 4 Order (5 Nov 1998); (2) Polsham Conservation Area Article 4 Order (made 11 Apr 2002, confirmed 8 Oct 2002). Neither removes C3->C4 HMO PD rights. planning.data.gov.uk returns ZERO entities for both the 'article-4-direction' and 'article-4-direction-area' datasets filtered to Torbay Council (organisation entity 280, curie local-authority:TOB). No cabinet report, SPD, or news confirming an HMO Article 4 could be located. Torbay does exercise HMO controls but via licensing and local-plan policy (e.g. Policy H2), not an Article 4. Note: planning.data.gov.uk coverage for Torbay is incomplete, and the raw article-4-directions-area.geojson linked on Torbay's MHCLG-data page could not be opened directly, so confidence is medium rather than high; but every authoritative signal that WAS readable points to conservation-only directions and no HMO A4. Sources: https://www.torbay.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/apply-for-planning-permission/conservation-area-appraisals/ ; https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/entity.json?dataset=article-4-direction&organisation_entity=280 ; https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/entity.json?dataset=article-4-direction-area&organisation_entity=280 ; https://www.torbay.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/apply-for-planning-permission/find-planning-considerations/mhclg-data/

checked 26 July 2026

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 Torbay multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.

Sources: Housing Act 2004 s72 · SI 2026/319 · Renters' Rights Act 2025 s103 · Shelter Legal England. Indicative only, not legal advice.

The letting market in Torbay

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£595 pcmFrom 117 room listings in Torbay.
Median whole-property rent£1,034 pcmFrom 99 whole-property listings.
Typical 4-bed rent£1,762 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
HMO income premium+69%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£241,000Across 532 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
Gross yield, whole let5.1%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 HMO14.8%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£33,321Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
Postcodes with flood exposure5.7%216 of 3,772 indexed postcodes.
Postcodes in Flood Zone 3158 (4.2%)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 varies by £50 a month across Torbay’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.

Median room rent by outcode in Torbay
Outcode	Median room rent	Room listings	Check a postcode
TQ2	£600 pcm	48	Check TQ2
TQ1	£550 pcm	27	Check TQ1

Postcode districts in Torbay

Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 3,772 Torbay 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 Torbay?

How much does an HMO licence cost in Torbay?

£2,007 under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. The council charges the same whatever the size of the HMO. Any additional or selective scheme is priced separately.

Is there an Article 4 direction in Torbay?

What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Torbay?

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.

About Torbay

Torbay is a local housing authority in South West, with a population of about 136,000 and 3,772 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 Torbay

Torbay licensing team · [email protected] · 01803 208723