Evicting one tenant from an HMO: room-only tenancies, notices, and the tenants who stay

In England, the answer usually turns on whether the HMO is let by separate room-only tenancies or one joint tenancy of the whole house. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use different tenancy systems for several of the points below, so the country matters.

Can you evict one tenant from an HMO without affecting the others?

You can evict one tenant from an HMO without affecting the others if that person has a separate room-only tenancy, but not if all occupiers are on one joint tenancy of the whole HMO. In England, a single room with shared facilities can be the assured dwelling because “the separate accommodation shall be deemed to be a dwelling-house let on an assured tenancy and the following provisions of this section shall have effect.” That is why an HMO room tenant can be served and sued separately, including where you need to remove one person for anti-social behaviour while the others want to stay. The court must still consider the shared-house impact: “Where the person against whom the order is sought is a tenant occupying an HMO, in considering effects mentioned in subsection (2)(a) the court must have particular regard to the effect on other occupiers who share with that person accommodation or facilities within the HMO.” On a joint tenancy, however, the tenant means all joint tenants. In Scotland, a landlord who wants only one joint tenant out is generally pushed towards ending and re-granting the tenancy; Northern Ireland also commonly uses separate agreements to avoid that problem.

Does an eviction notice have to name the room?

An eviction notice should identify the room if the tenancy is room-only, although the prescribed forms in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland generally require identification of the let property or dwelling rather than expressly saying room number. In England, Form 3A says: “Your landlord intends to begin court proceedings for possession of the property they rent to you, which is identified in question 1.2 below.” That does not make a room number a statutory magic word, but a notice for Room 3, 12 High Street is safer than one that only says 12 High Street where the landlord is not seeking possession of the whole building. Wales uses the same practical approach because RHW20 “tells you that your landlord intends to begin proceedings for possession of the dwelling identified at Part C.” Scotland’s prescribed notice to leave refers to the “Let Property”, and Northern Ireland requires a notice to quit a dwelling-house. The validity point is identification: if the contract is for a room, name the room. Abodient can hold each room-only tenancy against the same property record, which matters because that document is what confirms exactly which room and which name a notice needs to identify.

If one HMO tenant leaves, does that end the other tenancies?

If one HMO tenant leaves, the effect is separate room tenants stay separate, but a joint tenancy is nation-specific: in England one joint tenant’s notice can end the tenancy for everyone; in Wales it withdraws only that person; in Scotland one joint tenant cannot end it for the rest until the 2027 reform starts. For England, the House of Lords rule is that, unless the agreement says otherwise, “notice to quit given by one joint tenant without the concurrence of any other joint tenant is effective to determine a periodic tenancy,” and the 1977 Act now adds that this “does not affect the validity of any notice to quit premises let under a joint assured tenancy that is given by only one or some of the tenants.” Wales is different: a notice by fewer than all joint contract-holders is “to be treated as a withdrawal notice,” so the others continue. Scotland is different again: “one joint tenant can no longer terminate a joint tenancy on behalf of all the joint tenants,” and the new unilateral-ending provision comes into force on 1 April 2027.

Can you chase one HMO tenant for unpaid rent without affecting the others?

You can chase one HMO tenant for unpaid rent without affecting the others if that tenant has an individual room-only agreement, but on a joint tenancy the landlord can usually pursue any joint tenant for the whole rent and possession action may affect them all. In England, Citizens Advice puts the room-only position plainly: “If other people you share your accommodation with don’t pay their rent, this won’t affect your tenancy.” For a joint tenancy, the opposite risk applies: “Your landlord could deduct money from the deposit, take action to evict you all or recover the debt from any one of you or a guarantor.” Wales states the joint-liability rule in statute: “each joint contract-holder is fully liable to the landlord for the performance of every obligation owed to the landlord under the contract.” Scotland’s individual-tenancy position is that “you only need to pay your rent and you cannot be forced to pay your flatmates’ rent.” Northern Ireland guidance describes joint tenants as usually jointly and severally liable. Abodient can record room-level occupancy, rent due and rent received, which matters because arrears action depends on whether the debt belongs to one room tenancy or to a joint tenancy.

Can a tenant move to a different room without a new tenancy?

A tenant can move to a different room without a new tenancy if the landlord and tenant vary or novate the existing room-only agreement, but a fresh tenancy is often cleaner where the room itself is the legal subject of the let. In England, no rule requires a new tenancy solely because an HMO occupier changes room; the Tenant Fees Act framework itself recognises payment “in consideration of the variation, assignment or novation of a tenancy at the tenant's request,” and government guidance says that when a tenant asks for a change to the tenancy agreement, “you can be charged up to £50 for the work involved or a higher amount if the work costs more.” The deposit position depends on the document: if the old tenancy is surrendered and a new room tenancy granted, treat deposit protection and prescribed information as new-tenancy work; if it is a genuine variation, do a written variation and inventory update. Scotland and Northern Ireland should be handled by written agreement too; Northern Ireland guidance treats a replacement occupier as a new tenancy, but that is not the same as one existing tenant swapping rooms.

Can you let another room while you are evicting someone in the same HMO?

From 1 May 2026 in England, the Renters’ Rights Act re-let ban applies to Ground 1 and Ground 1A landlord-occupation or sale cases, not to rent-arrears eviction, so it does not stop you letting a different vacant HMO room while suing a non-paying room tenant. The statutory restriction begins only “where a relevant person relies on Ground 1 or 1A in Schedule 2 in relation to an assured tenancy,” and a rent-arrears possession claim is not that. The hard limit is the HMO licence and the identity of the dwelling: in England and Wales, an HMO licence authorises occupation by “not more than a maximum number of households or persons specified in the licence,” and the offence is triggered where the extra occupation means the house is occupied by more households or persons than authorised. You also cannot grant a new tenancy of the same room before the old tenancy has legally ended, because in England “the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” Scotland and Northern Ireland follow the licence-cap principle too: do not breach the licensed occupancy conditions.

Are you liable for the utility bills an HMO tenant runs up while you wait for possession?

Selling the HMO does not by itself shorten, interrupt or complete the possession process, and you are liable for utility bills during the wait only if the tenancy, supplier account or resale arrangement makes you liable. In England, the tenancy continues until the court order is enforced because “the tenancy ends when the order is executed,” so a sale transfers the landlord’s position but does not make the occupier leave. The possession delay is not best described as automatically up to a year: the England-and-Wales median from claim to repossession was 25.0 weeks, and NRLA reported a private-landlord average of 32.5 weeks in Q1 2025. For electricity in Great Britain, where supply continues without a contract, the supplier is “deemed to have contracted with the occupier (or the owner if the premises are unoccupied),” and Ofgem says: “Your rental agreement should say if you, your landlord or your letting agent are responsible for energy bills.” But an HMO manager in England and Wales, and a landlord in Northern Ireland, must not unreasonably interrupt gas or electricity while an occupier remains. Council tax is different: since December 2023, English HMO regulations “ensure that council tax liability rests with the landlords of HMOs covered by the regulations”; Scotland also puts HMO council tax on the owner, and Northern Ireland rates are levied on the owner where the property includes an HMO.

Who supplies the kitchen equipment and consumables in a room-only let?

In a room-only HMO, the landlord usually supplies the legally required shared kitchen facilities and maintains shared appliances, but ordinary consumables such as toilet roll, washing-up liquid, bin liners and sponges are not a statutory landlord duty unless the agreement promises them. In England, the HMO standards say the shared kitchen “must be equipped with the following equipment, which must be fit for the purpose and supplied in a sufficient quantity for the number of those sharing the facilities,” including “installations or equipment for the cooking of food.” The same schedule requires “cupboards for the storage of food or kitchen and cooking utensils,” which is storage for utensils, not a duty to supply every pan, plate or fork. Wales requires a shared kitchen to be “equipped with such facilities, so as to adequately enable those sharing the facilities to store, prepare and cook food.” Northern Ireland is more specific on cookers, requiring “a proper cooker with at least four rings or hot plates together with a grill and an oven.” Scotland depends more on licence standards; for example, Highland requires a cooker with rings, grill and oven at one per five occupiers in a shared kitchen.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Housing Act 1988 s.3 — “the separate accommodation shall be deemed to be a dwelling-house let on an assured tenancy and the following provisions of this section shall have effect.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.9A — “Where the person against whom the order is sought is a tenant occupying an HMO, in considering effects mentioned in subsection (2)(a) the court must have particular regard to the effect on other occupiers who share with that person accommodation or facilities within the HMO.” Source
• Form 3A, England — “Your landlord intends to begin court proceedings for possession of the property they rent to you, which is identified in question 1.2 below.” Source
• Form RHW20, Wales — “This notice tells you that your landlord intends to begin proceedings for possession of the dwelling identified at Part C.” Source
• Hammersmith and Fulham LBC v Monk [1991] UKHL 6 — “For all these reasons I agree with the Court of Appeal that, unless the terms of the tenancy agreement otherwise provide, notice to quit given by one joint tenant without the concurrence of any other joint tenant is effective to determine a periodic tenancy.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5 — “That does not affect the validity of any notice to quit premises let under a joint assured tenancy that is given by only one or some of the tenants.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.130 — “A notice given to the landlord by one or more (but not all) of the joint contract-holders that purports to be a notice under section 168 (contract-holder's notice to end contract) is to be treated as a withdrawal notice, and the date specified in the notice is to be treated as the withdrawal date.” Source
• Scottish Government, Ending joint tenancies: equality impact assessment — “With the introduction of the Private Residential Tenancy (“PRT”) (see section 48 and section 78(3) of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 [4](“2016 Act”)) landlords cannot place time limits on the tenancy and one joint tenant can no longer terminate a joint tenancy on behalf of all the joint tenants.” Source
• The Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Saving Provision) Regulations 2026 — “The regulation-making powers in section 44 are being brought into force on 1 April 2026 and the remainder of section 44 will come into force on 1 April 2027.” Source
• Citizens Advice, sharing accommodation — “If other people you share your accommodation with don’t pay their rent, this won’t affect your tenancy.” Source
• Citizens Advice, sharing accommodation — “Your landlord could deduct money from the deposit, take action to evict you all or recover the debt from any one of you or a guarantor.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.48 — “If there are two or more joint contract-holders under an occupation contract, each joint contract-holder is fully liable to the landlord for the performance of every obligation owed to the landlord under the contract.” Source
• Shelter Scotland, flatmates — “An individual tenancy agreement means you only need to pay your rent and you cannot be forced to pay your flatmates’ rent.” Source
• Tenant Fees Act 2019 Sch.1 para.6 — “(a)to a landlord in consideration of the variation, assignment or novation of a tenancy at the tenant's request, or” Source
• GOV.UK, Tenant Fees Act guidance for tenants — “When you ask for a change to the tenancy agreement (for example, to add or remove a person) you can be charged up to £50 for the work involved or a higher amount if the work costs more.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16E — “Subject to section 16F, where a relevant person relies on Ground 1 or 1A in Schedule 2 in relation to an assured tenancy, the landlord must not, within the restricted period—” Source
• Housing Act 2004 s.61 — “A licence under this Part is a licence authorising occupation of the house concerned by not more than a maximum number of households or persons specified in the licence.” Source
• Housing Act 2004 s.72 — “(c)the other person’s occupation results in the house being occupied by more households or persons than is authorised by the licence.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.5 — “Where an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house is obtained, the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” Source
• Electricity Act 1989 Sch.6 — “Where an electricity supplier supplies electricity to any premises otherwise than in pursuance of a contract, the supplier shall be deemed to have contracted with the occupier (or the owner if the premises are unoccupied) for the supply of electricity as from the time (“the relevant time”) when he began so to supply electricity.” Source
• Ofgem, domestic consumer advice for England and Wales — “Your rental agreement should say if you, your landlord or your letting agent are responsible for energy bills.” Source
• Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 reg.6 — “The manager must not unreasonably cause the gas or electricity supply that is used by any occupier within the HMO to be interrupted.” Source
• Houses in Multiple Occupation: Council Tax information letter 3/2023 — “They will also ensure that council tax liability rests with the landlords of HMOs covered by the regulations.” Source
• MoJ, mortgage and landlord possession statistics Oct-Dec 2024 — “The median average time from claim to repossession has increased to 25.0 weeks, up from 23.6 weeks in the same period of 2023.” Source
• Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 Sch.3 — “the kitchen must be equipped with the following equipment, which must be fit for the purpose and supplied in a sufficient quantity for the number of those sharing the facilities—” Source
• Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 Sch.3 — “(iii)installations or equipment for the cooking of food;” Source
• Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006 Sch.3 — “(vi)cupboards for the storage of food or kitchen and cooking utensils;” Source
• Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2006 Sch.3 para.3 — “(a)there must be a kitchen, suitably located in relation to the living accommodation, and of such layout and size and equipped with such facilities, so as to adequately enable those sharing the facilities to store, prepare and cook food;” Source
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (Living Accommodation Standard) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 reg.11 — “Each kitchen shall be provided with a proper cooker with at least four rings or hot plates together with a grill and an oven in the following ratios as per Table 5:—” Source
• Highland Council HMO standards — “Each housing unit must contain a cooker with rings, grill and oven, or alternatively cookers with 4 rings, a grill and an oven must be provided in a common kitchen on a scale of one cooker for every unit or fraction of a unit of five people accommodated within the HMO.” Source