Q. I rented my house in York to four sharers on a joint and several tenancy agreement. The neighbours have told me that one of the tenants has moved her partner in. What implications does this have for me, if any?

A. Your property was already an HMO, as presumably the tenants were not related to each other, so they would have formed more than one ‘household’ (which, in essence, means ‘family’).

However, if there are now five occupiers, this brings your property within the scope of mandatory licensing (as I see the property is in England). Mandatory licensing applies (in England) if there are five or more occupiers forming two or more households.

I assume you will not want this, as you will have to apply for a license and pay a fee. Councils often require landlords to carry out work as a condition of being granted a license which you will also not want.

You therefore need to tell your tenants that they must bring the numbers in the property back down to four. Although, check first with your Local Authority as sometimes additional or selective licensing schemes are brought in requiring landlords with fewer than four occupiers to obtain a license.

But if the unauthorised occupier is making you liable for licensing, then you should be able to apply to the Courts for an injunction ordering the unauthorised person to leave. Tell your tenants that if the unauthorised occupier does not leave, this is what you will do AND that they will almost certainly be ordered to pay the costs of the claim.

Hopefully, this will persuade them to bring the numbers back down to four.

Q. A council officer has told me that I am breaking the law as I have five tenants in my flat and I have not applied for an HMO license. But I understood that HMO licensing rules were different for flats and that they are not subject to licensing. Am I right?