Oxford Council has become the first local authority to require every House in Multiple Occupation to be licensed.
The authority already licenses, as is mandatory, HMOs that are three storeys or more and which have five or more tenants, and currently over 600 HMO licences have been issued.
On Monday, it introduced additional licensing, which means every HMO in the city will need to obtain a licence.
From this week, all three or more storey HMOs in Oxford will require a licence, plus all two-storey HMOs that contain five or more tenants.
All other types of HMOs will require a licence from January next year. This will include properties with three or four tenants sharing, as well as properties with self-contained flats.
It is estimated that altogether 4,000 properties will be licensed.
Joe McManners, board member for housing, said: “I am delighted that we have finally got the powers to improve every HMO in Oxford.
“They have long been recognised as being a particular problem in the city, providing the worst homes and in many cases being poorly managed.
“The private rented sector is hugely important to the residents of Oxford, not just in terms of providing much needed accommodation, but also with the impact that it can have on local communities, and licensing every HMO will help drive up standards for everyone.”
Oxford has the 14th highest number of HMOs in England and Wales. One in five residents in the city lives in an HMO.
The council first applied for permission to introduce additional licensing back in 2008. Last July, it resolved to introduce the scheme and was due to launch it in October.
However, after protests from landlords and agents, the scheme was delayed to avoid litigation.
Landlords pointed out that it would have been illegal to run an HMO in Oxford without a licence, but that the council would not have been able to cope with the administrative burden of actually issuing licences.
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