Northampton HMO amenity standards

The council’s HMO standards page says the three former district councils that make up West Northamptonshire have different standards, and landlords should pick the guide for the area where the HMO sits. For Northampton that is the Northampton and Daventry HMO Guide; South Northants has its own HMO Standards Policy. The council states the standards are to be unified and are under review. The guides cover room sizes, kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, fire precautions and waste.

Source: West Northamptonshire — HMO standards, fire safety and planning permission.

A mandatory licence is needed where five or more people from more than one household share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities. The additional licensing scheme started on 24 February 2025 for five years and covers houses or flats with three or more people forming two or more households, plus some section 257 converted blocks. The council says the new area takes in the 2020 to 2025 scheme area plus additional areas in Northampton and Daventry, so check the published map rather than an older ward list.

Source: West Northamptonshire — Types of HMO licences.

The guide restates the legal floors of 6.51 m² for one person and 10.22 m² for two, and says these absolute minimums only apply where there is adequate shared living space elsewhere. Where no communal living space is provided, a bedroom must be at least 10 m² for one occupant or 15 m² for two. A bedsit with its own kitchen must be at least 14 m² for one person or 18 m² for two, and a bedsit may hold no more than two people. Floor under a ceiling lower than 1.5 m is disregarded.

Shared kitchens need at least 7 m² for three to five residents and 10 m² for six to ten, with a width of at least 1.8 m. One complete set of kitchen facilities is required for every five people, and no more than two sets may share one kitchen. In a one or two storey HMO, three to five people need an 11 m² living room or an 18 m² combined kitchen and living room. Six to ten people need 14 m² or 24 m² combined. Kitchens should normally be no more than one floor from the bedrooms.

Up to four people need one bathroom with a toilet. Five people need a bathroom plus a separate toilet with wash hand basin, and six to ten need two bathrooms and two toilets, one of them in a separate room. A bath is required where a child under 10 lives in the house. Heating must be able to hold each room, including kitchens and bathrooms, at 21°C when it is −1°C outside, under the occupiers’ control. Shared “Jack and Jill” toilets reached from two rooms are not permitted.

Northampton’s Houses in Multiple Occupation Supplementary Planning Document, adopted in November 2019, requires HMO proposals to meet the council’s Guide to Amenities and Facilities for Houses in Multiple Occupation (2018) or its update. Licensing and planning stay separate decisions, and the council notes that planning permission does not guarantee a licence. Planning detail: Article 4 HMO rules in Northampton. Sale route: Sell an HMO in Northampton.

English licensed HMOs share the 2018 prescribed bedroom floors, while West Northamptonshire adds its own living-space, kitchen and bathroom rules by former district. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland license HMOs under different laws. Overview: HMO standards. Regulation text: SI 2018/616.