Salford seeks further HMO controls
The city council wants to implement a licensing scheme for certain properties across the whole of the city after a recent study found that 99% of buildings surveyed failed to meet expected standards.
Salford City Council’s proposed licensing scheme would relate only to Section 257 HMOs, defined as “a building that has been converted, or partially converted, into self-contained flats, which did not meet the relevant building standards at the time of conversion and still do not comply with those standards”.
Additionally, for a building to be classified as a S257 HMO, fewer than two-thirds of the flats must be owner-occupied, according to a cabinet report.
The licencing scheme, which would cost landlords between £1,300 and £2,000 depending on the size of the scheme, would give the city council a better understanding of where HMOs are located and force landlords to comply with building safety regulations. Failure to do so would be a criminal offence.
During a recent consultation on the proposal,70% of landlord respondents opposed the licensing scheme.
S257 HMOs can be found across Salford, with concentrations in Eccles and Broughton.
Inspections carried out between 2022 and 2025 identified “serious safety concerns” within these types of properties, including structural hazards, excess cold, and damp and mould.
The most common hazard was related to the risk of fire; 97% of the HMOs surveyed raised fire safety concerns.
The proposed licensing scheme “represents a vital step forward in safeguarding tenants, raising standards in the private rented sector, and ensuring that all residents of Salford have access to safe, well-managed, and decent homes”, according to the report.
If approved, the licensing scheme would be the latest measure introduced in Salford in order to improve the standard of HMOs. The city council already has Article 4 directions in place around the city that remove permitted development rights for the conversion of houses into HMOs.
