Bradford licenses shared houses but, unlike neighbouring Leeds, it has no wider selective scheme. A house or flat let to five or more people who share a kitchen or bathroom needs a mandatory HMO licence from Bradford Council, and the licence runs for up to five years. An ordinary family let does not need a licence. The fee comes in three bands depending on the size of the HMO, and the current figures are on Bradford Council’s HMO licence page. Check it before you apply, because the bands change each year.
Because there is no selective scheme, plenty of Bradford landlords with a single let or a small share never deal with the council at all, and assume nothing else applies. The fire risk assessment does. It is a duty under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for any let property with shared parts, any business premises, and any HMO. It applies with or without a licence.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service enforces fire safety law across Bradford, separately from the council. They can turn up without an appointment, serve enforcement and prohibition notices, and prosecute. They will not write your assessment, though they will give advice. Their audit asks for the written report and then checks whether what it recommends has actually been done.
Stone terraces in Manningham and the converted mills
Bradford has housing that most cities do not. Areas such as Manningham, Girlington and Great Horton are packed with stone built through terraces and back-to-backs, many now let room by room, and around the University of Bradford they fill with students. A back-to-back has windows on one side only, so the escape past a single staircase matters even more than usual, and the fire separation between the original rooms is often missing because the house was never built as separate lets. Then there are the mills. Lister Mills in Manningham, once the largest silk factory in the world, has been turned into apartments, and other old mills across the city have gone the same way. These are big stone buildings, some well above 11 metres, so the assessment there is about the flat entrance doors, the protected staircase and the alarm that ties the whole block together.
What a Bradford report should actually name
A report that could have been written for any city is not suitable and sufficient for a back-to-back let room by room or a converted mill. It should say where the alarms sit on each storey, whether the single staircase stays usable if a fire starts below, and how the rooms and flats are separated. For a mill conversion it should name the flat entrance doors and the escape route, not leave the shared parts as a heading with nothing under it.
Checking an assessor in Bradford
There is no official register of fire risk assessors, so the checking is down to whoever pays the invoice. Ask for qualifications, professional body membership, indemnity insurance and a sample report before you appoint, and if it is a back-to-back or a mill flat, say so and ask how many they have done. The full list of questions is on what a fire risk assessment costs.
What it costs in Bradford
The building sets the price, not the postcode. A back-to-back let in Manningham is a morning; a mill conversion with one staircase and flats above 11 metres is not. The national ranges, and what moves a quote inside them, are on what a fire risk assessment costs. Ask for a fixed price against a written description of the property.
Leeds sits under the same fire service and does run a selective scheme, so it works differently: fire risk assessments in Leeds.
HMO licensing in Bradford
My rental is an ordinary house, not a shared house. Do I need a licence?
No. Bradford licenses shared houses of five or more sharers, and there is no wider selective scheme, so a single family let does not need one. Check the council page if you are unsure how your tenancy counts.
My property is a mill flat that I sublet. What applies?
The block will have its own fire risk assessment for the shared parts, held by the managing agent or freeholder. Ask to see it, and get your own assessment for anything within your control.
Does the HMO licence replace the fire risk assessment?
No. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will still expect the written assessment, and the licence does not provide one.
Getting a quote from an assessor covering Bradford
Describe the premises and we will pass it to assessors covering Bradford. Say whether it is a single house, a back-to-back, or a mill flat.
Not in Bradford? See all the areas we cover.