Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by PropertyWire. Read the original article for full details.

Portsmouth Landlords Win Tribunal Over HMO Licensing Conditions

The Upper Tribunal has ruled that Portsmouth City Council exceeded its statutory powers by imposing blanket conditions on Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences without adequate justification. The case, brought by landlords Simon Fletcher and Iva Fletcher with support from the Portsmouth & District Private Landlords Association (PDPLA), may have implications for local authority licensing schemes across England.

Portsmouth City Council had required landlords to include specific inventories, deposit arrangements, and rent clauses in tenancy agreements as a condition of obtaining an HMO licence. The council also mandated that landlords provide tenant information to the authority and applied identical licence conditions across all HMO properties in the city.

The Upper Tribunal found that councils cannot use HMO licensing powers to dictate the contents of tenancy agreements or automatically impose discretionary conditions on every property without individual assessment. As a result, Portsmouth City Council has informed licence holders that future licences will contain updated wording “to ensure clarity and alignment with current legislation.” Existing licences remain valid, and the council has not indicated whether it will appeal the decision.

The ruling establishes that while councils retain powers to license HMOs and attach appropriate conditions, these must be justified on a case-by-case basis rather than applied as a standard policy across all properties. The case may prompt landlords in other areas to review licence conditions imposed by their local authorities.