Demand for HMOs in Lincoln is high. There are areas where demand is higher for students and others that are higher for professionals. From our research we can see that the average rent in Lincoln is between £430 and £600 per month per room. Double rooms outweigh single rooms by 4:1 so if you are looking to develop HMOs in Lincoln it’s important that they are double rooms. The amount of professional rooms to student rooms is around the same with a marginally higher availability for student rooms.  

There are over 14,500 students in Lincoln and more than 90,000 applications are received by the University every year. Lincoln is therefore a popular place for Houses of Multiple Occupancy. The University of Lincoln has it’s Student Union located at LN6 7GQ. You also have the Lincoln College. There are 3 areas across the City where HMOs appear, however the most popular area for Student HMOs is to the North West. It also has a Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s superstore as well as a number of takeaways, all within walking distance, which is attractive to Students.

The average size HMO in Lincoln is 6 beds. 5 bed HMOs are also popular in Lincoln, and there are some 6 bed and 10 bed HMOs also. Larger HMOs are commercially financed. 

Unfortunately we do not provide any recommendations for third party HMO letting agents in Lincoln. 

Yes, there is article 4 in Lincoln which prohibits the conversion of houses to HMOs up to 6 bedrooms. This is restricted to houses in the article 4 area. This came into effect on 1st March 2016. The directive extends across the entire city of Lincoln. For the exact map you can download it from The City of Lincoln Council’s website. 

Any HMO that is rented to five or more tenants is required to have an HMO licence in Lincoln. If you require a licence then you should already have planning permission to rent the property as an HMO. 

Any HMO property rented to 4 tenants or less is not currently subject to a selective licencing scheme in Lincoln, however this is subject to change dependent upon Local and National Directives.

If you have a HMO rented to 6 or less tenants, then you are required under the article 4 directive in Lincoln to have planning permission (or a Certificate of Lawfulness). This gives you permission to change the use of property from a dwelling house (C3) to a house in multiple occupation (C4). 

If you have a 7 bedroom and bigger house of multiple occupancy, then under National Directive, you are required to have planning permission as Sui Generis HMO.