Bristol extended additional HMO licensing across the whole city on 6 August 2024. A house let to three or more people who are not one household, and who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Nationally the mandatory threshold is five. A first licence costs £1,861 and lasts five years. Fire safety sits inside the conditions. Check the current fee and conditions with Bristol City Council.
Bristol also runs selective licensing for ordinary rented homes in named areas. Even a single-family let needs a licence inside those areas. Current wards and the map sit on Bristol’s property licence page. Bishopston and Ashley Down, Cotham, Easton, Bedminster and Brislington West have all appeared on that map. The boundary is the council’s, not this page’s.
Avon Fire and Rescue Service will ask for the written assessment
Avon Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority for most premises in Bristol. They can inspect without notice, serve enforcement and prohibition notices, and prosecute. Bristol City Council’s own fire-safety page for landlords says that if they find a fire hazard they will tell you whether they think the Fire Safety Order applies, and that this can be checked with Avon Fire and Rescue Service. The fire service may audit the risk assessment later. They do not write it for you.
Converted terraces, licensed family lets, and the harbour
A lot of the shared housing is in older terraces converted flat by flat over years. Fire stopping between those conversions is what the assessments usually find missing. Additional HMO licensing citywide is why a three-person shared house now sits under a licence as well as under the Fire Safety Order. Say how many people share when you ask for quotes.
Selective-licence houses in the named wards are often ordinary rented homes. The licence inspection is how a landlord first hears about a missing alarm or a blocked escape. Converted buildings around the harbour and in the old warehouses are a different job: original structure not built as homes, new compartmentation, shared cores.
If you rent from a social landlord, start with them.
Two Bristol licences, one Fire Safety Order
Additional HMO licensing and selective licensing are housing licences from Bristol City Council. The fire risk assessment is a Fire Safety Order duty. You still need the written fire risk assessment. Sitting outside selective licensing, if your street is not on the map, removes that licence. Additional HMO licensing still applies if three sharers live there. The fire safety duty stays.
What a Bristol report should actually name
A report that could have been written for any city is not suitable and sufficient here. It should say whether the property needs an additional HMO licence, whether it sits inside a selective-licensing ward, where the storey alarms are, and what the escape is. For a harbour conversion it should name the original structure and the new compartmentation.
Checking an assessor in Bristol
There is no register to check an assessor against, so ask them directly: qualifications, professional body, indemnity insurance, and a sample report. What a good answer to each looks like is on what a fire risk assessment costs.
What it costs in Bristol
Southampton is the other south-coast city on this site with additional HMO licensing: fire risk assessments in Southampton.
Additional and selective licensing in Bristol
My HMO only has three sharers. Do I still need a licence?
Yes, under additional HMO licensing citywide since 6 August 2024. Nationally the mandatory threshold is still five. Bristol dropped the local threshold to three.
Do I still need a fire risk assessment if I have a licence?
No. Avon Fire and Rescue Service will still ask for the written assessment.
I let a family house in Easton. Is that additional HMO licensing?
Not if it is a single household. It may still sit inside selective licensing. Check the council map for the named wards.
Getting a quote from an assessor covering Bristol
Describe the premises and we will pass it to assessors covering Bristol. Say whether it is a three-person HMO, a five-person HMO, or a house in a selective ward.
Plymouth is the other South West city on this site: fire risk assessments in Plymouth.
Not in Bristol? See all the areas we cover.