In Derbyshire, as everywhere in England, a house with five or more people forming two or more households needs a mandatory HMO licence. Some councils go further with additional licensing or Article 4 directions, as the table shows.
Licensing and planning for HMOs in Derbyshire is handled by the district, borough, city or unitary councils, not one county-wide body. That's why the same house can need different paperwork depending on which side of a council boundary it sits.
HMO rules across Derbyshire's councils
| Council | Additional licensing | Selective licensing | Article 4 (small HMOs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amber Valley Borough Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Bolsover District Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Chesterfield Borough Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Derby City Council | None found | None found | In part of the area Arboretum ward and parts of seven wards inside the ring road, since 3 May 2025 |
| Derbyshire Dales District Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Erewash Borough Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Due to start Due to start 6 March 2027: Ilkeston, most of Long Eaton and parts of Sandiacre and Sawley |
| High Peak Borough Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| North East Derbyshire District Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| South Derbyshire District Council | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
Checked October 2026. Mandatory licensing for five or more people applies in every council. Schemes change, so we confirm the position for the address before work starts.
Councils in Derbyshire where we found an Article 4 direction for small HMOs in force, in all or part of their area: Derby City Council. Article 4 directions are due to start or proposed in: Erewash Borough Council. We found no additional licensing schemes in force that we could confirm, so the mandatory licence for five or more people is the main one to plan for.
Our HMO en-suite installation service in Derbyshire
We fit en-suite shower rooms in HMO bedrooms across Derbyshire, starting with a check that each bedroom still meets its size standard once the en-suite is built. Councils take different views on whether en-suite floor area counts, so we confirm the local position first.
Older houses often have joists running the wrong way and soil stacks in fixed positions, so in Derbyshire we check the drainage route under the floor before quoting. Every en-suite we fit in Derbyshire is finished with a ducted fan, certified electrics and fire stopping.
- Drainage route checked under the floor at survey
- Bedroom measured to confirm it still meets size standards
- Fire stopping where pipes pass through floors and walls
- Extract fan ducted to outside with overrun control
- Electrical work tested and certified