Landlord Licensing

Mandatory licensing

A House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) is a property that is occupied by 3 or more unrelated individuals who are not from 1 ‘household’ (e.g. a family) and do not have exclusive occupation of the whole property, but share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen.

If your property is:

• rented to 5 or more people who are unrelated or form more than 1 household
• tenants share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities

Your property is defined as a large HMO and you will need to apply for a mandatory licence.

Mandatory licences are valid for up to 5 years.

Additional licensing

The Council has introduced a scheme in parts of central Doncaster to reduce the threshold for HMO licensing to four people forming more than one household. Apart from this reduction, the other criteria are the same as for mandatory licensing. 

Additional licensing ran from 1st October 2018 to 30th September 2023

• Apply for Houses in Multiple Occupation Licence and find out more

Selective licensing applies to privately rented properties in the designated area of Hexthorpe.

The designation date for the scheme is detailed below:

Hexthorpe: 1st March 2022 - 28th February 2027. 

• Apply for a Selective Licence and find out more

Completing an annual self-declaration 

The aims of the selective licensing scheme are to improve  tenancy management and help tackle anti-social behaviour. Your licence requires you to do certain things and retain documentation so that you can demonstrate compliance. If you have recently received a letter requiring you to complete an annual self-declaration, please follow the steps below:

1) Download the self declaration by clicking on the link below.

2) Complete the form and save it.

3) Email the completed form as an attachment to our selective licensing team -  (selective.licensing@doncaster.gov.uk) 

Licence Holder Self declaration v3.23

Download (969KB - PDF)

If you are the person having control of a licensed private rented property within Doncaster and gas is supplied to the house, you are legally required to produce to the local housing authority annually for their inspection a gas safety certificate obtained in respect of the house within the last 12 months. 

If your property is not required to be licensed, you are still required to obtain an annual gas safety certificate, but there is no need for you to submit a copy of this to Doncaster Council unless requested to do so.

You can find further information on submitting your gas safety certificate on our web page Licensed properties- How to submit your annual gas safety certificate