Licensing fee classification
Initial licence fee versus renewal versus compliance-driven upgrade works, split correctly between revenue and capital so deductions are not lost or overclaimed.
ReadingSloughWindsorMaidenheadMarlowHigh WycombeBracknellWokinghamHenley on ThamesBy appointment
Specialist · Thames Valley
Room-level cash flow, licensing fees, and clean council tax classification.
Houses in multiple occupation come with selective licensing fees, council tax exemption rules, and room-by-room reporting demands that single-let accounting cannot handle. We run HMO portfolios across Reading, Slough, Bracknell and the wider Thames Valley.
HMO, by the numbers.
£1,250
Typical five-year selective licensing fee, Slough SL1
5+
Sharers in a Mandatory HMO, requiring licence in every council
40+
Thames Valley HMO landlords on our books
No. 01 / Why HMOs are different
Single-let accounting misses real money in an HMO.
HMO landlords face a layered set of tax and accounting questions that single-let landlords do not. Licensing fees split between revenue and capital depending on whether they are paid to obtain a licence (capital, written off over the licence period) or to renew compliance with conditions (revenue, deductible).
Council tax classification matters: a property let to full-time students is exempt, but the documentation must be in place every academic year. Selective and additional licensing schemes (Slough SL1, Reading RG1/RG2/RG30, Bracknell selectively) charge five-year fees with conditions that trigger upgrade works, themselves split between deductible repairs and capital improvements.
Room-by-room cash flow tracking matters at sale: SDLT recovery on partial disposals, profit-per-room for refinancing, and HMRC challenges where rooms have been let on different bases (assured shorthold versus licence, with a tenant or with a lodger).
No. 02 / What's included
The work, line by line.
Room-level reporting
Each room as a sub-account: rent, vacancies, deposit, council tax exemption status, and tenancy type. Quarterly report by room and consolidated by property.
Council tax exemption documentation
Student tenant exemption certificates, in-progress tenancy gaps, and the empty-property classification dispute path with each council.
Repairs versus improvements
Compliance-driven works (fire alarms, kitchens, room sizes) classified correctly. The split affects current-year tax and future CGT base cost.
Rent-a-room interaction
Where the owner-occupier is also letting rooms, the rent-a-room scheme threshold (£7,500) interacts with HMO landlord status. We run the numbers both ways.
HMO disposal CGT
Where partial-occupancy or PRR claims have been made historically, the CGT calculation needs careful reconstruction. We rebuild base cost, allowable expenditure, and lettings-period analysis.
No. 03 / What it costs
Per-property pricing for HMO portfolios.
HMOs price higher than single lets because of the additional bookkeeping and licensing admin.
Single HMO
£65/mo
Per HMO property under MTD.
- Quarterly submissions
- Licensing fee accounting
- Per-room reporting
- Council tax exemption admin
- Annual finalisation
Most popular
2–4 HMO portfolio
From £165/mo
Most established HMO portfolios.
- Everything in single
- Portfolio-level reporting
- Lender pack support
- Annual licensing renewal admin
- Quarterly review call
5+ HMO portfolio
From £280/mo
Multi-property HMO operators.
- Everything in mid plan
- Custom reporting
- Multi-council coordination
- Disposal modelling included
Mixed portfolios (HMO plus single lets) are quoted on the blended profile. CGT disposals and incorporations are separate one-off projects.
My old accountant did not know what selective licensing was. These do, and they sorted six HMOs across two council areas in three weeks, including amending two prior years where the licensing fees had been treated wrong.
No. 04 / Common questions
What landlords ask before booking.
The licence fee itself is deductible against rental income, spread over the licence period (typically five years). Works carried out to meet the licensing conditions split between revenue (deductible against rent) and capital (added to base cost for CGT). We classify each line correctly.
Mid-portfolio, mid-licence renewal, or thinking about your first HMO?
Tell us where you are in 60 seconds. We will come back within one working hour with the right next step, no pitch.