The issuing of new House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences by planning authorities across Great Britain saw a notable contraction last year, according to new internal figures released by Searchland. In total, 23,947 licences were granted in 2024—a figure that marks a drop of 1,498 from the 25,445 licences recorded in 2023. This represents a 5.9% year-on-year decrease.

But the story isn’t one of uniform decline. In fact, some local authorities are bucking the trend in dramatic fashion.

Looking at Oxford, for example. In what can only be described as a surge, the city saw the approval of 1,823 new HMO licences in 2024—an astonishing 1,341 more than the prior year. Elsewhere, the momentum continued: Bristol issued 838 more licences than it had in 2023; Lambeth increased its count by 759; Hammersmith & Fulham added another 544 to its tally; and Charnwood, a perhaps less-expected entrant, saw an uptick of 533.

And regarding Lambeth—it didn't just see growth, it led the nation. The borough emerged as the frontrunner for new HMO approvals, with 2,515 licences handed out in 2024. That figure alone constituted a striking 10.5% of all such licences issued nationwide.

Oxford, with its aforementioned boom, secured 1,823 approvals, while Bristol clocked in at 1,588. Several other local authorities crossed the four-digit threshold as well, including Haringey (1,158), Southwark (1,087), and Hammersmith & Fulham (1,007).

Reflecting on the broader implications of this decline, Hugh Gibbs, co-founder of Searchland, remarked: “There’s been a decline in the annual number of HMO licenses being granted by councils across Britain at a time when we arguably need more rental accommodation to ease the high demand from tenants."

He continued, offering insight into what might be fuelling the pullback: “This reduction has no doubt been driven by a greater reluctance from councils due to a move towards risk-based licensing, but it’s also fair to say that tighter regulations, particularly with regard to mandatory room sizes, may have also deterred investment.”

Yet, amid this overall downturn, regional outliers are emerging, defying the national slump. Gibbs added: “However, not every area has seen a decline and, in fact, many regional hotspots such as Oxford, Bristol and London have seen a substantial increase.”

While the national trajectory suggests caution or constraint—possibly a policy-induced pause—the localised upticks in key urban areas hint at a more complex, geographically uneven landscape for rental housing development across Britain.