Paying for a home · shared housing
A house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a shared home with three or more tenants from more than one household. Portsmouth has about three times England’s share. The council’s register is a list of licences, not a count of homes.
1 · Where
Records per 100 homes, using Census 2021 homes. Charles Dickens, Central Southsea and St Thomas stand out. Thirty-three records have no ward.
| Ward | Records | Share of records | Records per 100 homes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Dickens | 892 | 28.5% | 10.6 |
| Central Southsea | 720 | 23% | 10.9 |
| St Thomas | 566 | 18.1% | 7.7 |
| St Jude | 271 | 8.7% | 4 |
| Fratton | 162 | 5.2% | 2.4 |
| Eastney and Craneswater | 121 | 3.9% | 1.9 |
| Nelson | 101 | 3.2% | 1.5 |
| Copnor | 85 | 2.7% | 1.6 |
| Hilsea | 59 | 1.9% | 1 |
| Milton | 48 | 1.5% | 0.7 |
| Cosham | 29 | 0.9% | 0.5 |
| Paulsgrove | 18 | 0.6% | 0.3 |
| Baffins | 15 | 0.5% | 0.3 |
| Drayton and Farlington | 5 | 0.2% | 0.1 |
Shares are of register records, not of homes. Homes are Census 2021 dwellings and may differ from today. Council register ↗
2 · Over time
The rules widened in October 2018 to cover many more HMOs, so the two periods are separate charts and must not be read as one trend.
Mandatory HMO licences in force at 31 March
Portsmouth council area · licences
Reviewed figures: 2011/12 to 2017/18.
Shown on this chart: 324 licences in 2011/12; 584 licences in 2017/18. 80.2% higher between these observations.
The line joins consecutive published observations.
Hover or tap the chart for a value. Use the date slider with touch or arrow keys. Escape closes the chart label.
Source: Ministry of Housing ↗
Mandatory HMO licences in force at 31 March
Portsmouth council area · licences
Reviewed figures: 2018/19 to 2024/25.
Shown on this chart: 923 licences in 2018/19; 1,194 licences in 2024/25. 29.4% higher between these observations.
The line joins consecutive published observations.
Hover or tap the chart for a value. Use the date slider with touch or arrow keys. Escape closes the chart label.
Source: Ministry of Housing ↗
Portsmouth added citywide additional licensing in September 2023, which covers smaller HMOs and is not in these counts. The council’s estimate of all HMOs is not an audited count, so it is not charted. Government housing statistics ↗
3 · Compared
A fixed Census snapshot on one definition. It cannot be joined to the licence series to measure growth. ONS data ↗
4 · Planning
Since 1 November 2011, an Article 4 direction (Art 4/HMO/01) means turning a family home into a small shared house (three to six unrelated people) needs planning permission. In force (no cancellation found in the sources checked). The direction ↗
The council’s list holds 284 HMO change-of-use applications with a planning reference, 2009 to 2026; the busiest year was 2015 (58). This is the subset the council publishes, not every application, so earlier years may be under-counted. A licence is not proof of planning permission.
5 · What you can do
Tenants with a safety or disrepair concern can contact the council’s private-sector housing team; immediate danger goes to the emergency services. The register alone cannot show whether an HMO is safe or a complaint was resolved.
Parliament
“Those delays are actively driving the growth of houses in multiple occupation, damaging Portsmouth’s reputation and holding back action on the housing crisis.”
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) · spoken contribution · 22 January 2026 · Source ↗
“We have removed taxis abandoned for years on Tangier Road in Baffins and we have taken significant action on houses in multiple occupation.”
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) · spoken contribution · 18 December 2025 · Source ↗
“I have raised concerns about the rise in the number of houses in multiple occupation in Portsmouth before.”
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) · spoken contribution · 19 June 2025 · Source ↗
“That allows for a rise in family homes being made into houses in multiple occupation.”
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) · spoken contribution · 23 October 2024 · Source ↗
“In my constituency of Portsmouth North, there are houses in multiple occupation where family homes have been turned into nine or sometimes 10-bedroom houses.”
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) · spoken contribution · 25 July 2024 · Source ↗
“…the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing mandatory fire certificates for (a) houses in multiple occupation, (b) hospitals, (c) shopping centres and (d) other designated premises where people congregate in significant numbers.”
Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) · written question (asked) · 6 February 2024 · Source ↗
“To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that Houses of Mulitple Occupancy are managed effectively in (a) the UK and (b) Portsmouth.”
Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) · written question (asked) · 11 April 2019 · Source ↗
“To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many registered Houses of Mulitple Occupancy there are in (a) Portsmouth, (b) Southampton and (c) Plymouth.”
Stephen Morgan (Portsmouth South) · written question (asked) · 11 April 2019 · Source ↗
What is still missing
Better evidence would include annual inspections, serious hazards, complaints and enforcement outcomes by area.
