Five-bed student HMO and mandatory licensing

Why it matters

HMO licensing inspections test documentation as much as bricks and mortar. Fire door records, alarm test logs and per-room paperwork all have to be produced on demand.

Practical guidance

• Treat each room as its own tenancy record with its own rent day.
• Log fire alarm and fire door checks as dated documents, not phone photos.
• Diary the licence expiry as carefully as the gas record.

The situation

Rent came in on five different days each month, chased manually by text. Fire alarm test records existed only as photos on a phone, and the landlord could not quickly evidence which tenant had received which document.

What changed

Each room was set up as its own tenancy with its own rent amount and due day, with reminders sent automatically before each date. Licensing evidence — alarm tests, fire door checks, the licence itself and the room schedule — was uploaded against the property with expiry dates.

The result

The inspection was passed at the first visit with every document produced from one place, and manual rent chasing dropped to near zero because reminders went out before, not after, the due date.