Do I Need To Provide a TV and TV Licence in my HMO?
Landlords furnishing an HMO for professional tenants often ask whether to include a TV.
No rule says you have to. A TV in the shared lounge is a basic item, while TVs in the bedrooms add costs the rent may not cover. Who needs a TV Licence depends on how the rooms are let.
Some HMOs keep the rent low and the extras to a minimum. Others put more into the shared parts of the house, like the lounge. You'll see both, whether it's an HMO in Liverpool or an HMO in Bradford.
Article updated: November 2026
A lounge TV won't guarantee you the best tenants. It is a basic item, like a shared washing machine, and it is one of the things a no-frills house may leave out.
Picture two houses on the same street. One has a lounge TV with Netflix, Disney+ and Sky Sports included in the rent. Yours has no TV at all. A tenant comparing the two has one more reason to pick the other house.
Offering more in the house, rather than cutting the rent, is one way to keep rooms filled on long-term lets.
Providing TVs for the Bedrooms
A TV in each bedroom is a different decision from one in the lounge.
There are two reasons to leave bedroom TVs out.
Cost
The first is cost. One TV may not cost much, but buying one for every room soon adds up. Each cost like this comes out of your rental income, and what's left over is a big part of whether buy-to-let is worth it.
A TV in the room may not earn enough extra rent to cover its cost.
Every TV you supply is also another appliance to keep safe. If your HMO is licensed in England or Wales, the Housing Act 2004 says the licence must require you to keep electrical appliances you provide in a safe condition.
PAT testing is one way to check electrical items. There is no general national rule for a yearly test, and the Health and Safety Executive says how often depends on the item and where it's used. A council can set its own rule in its HMO licence conditions, though. Ealing's HMO standards, for example, say PAT testing must be carried out every year.
If you later consider selling your HMO, a buyer may look closely at its running costs and rental yield. Small costs like these all count.
Not Needed
The second reason is that a TV in the room often isn't needed.
Many tenants already own a device to watch TV or streaming services on, like a laptop, a tablet or a phone. Some may have their own TV too. So a TV in the room can be a wasted expense. It can even get in the way if the tenant doesn't want it, and then you have to store it elsewhere.
Providing a TV for the Communal Lounge
A TV in the communal areas and lounges in your HMO gives tenants a reason to come out of their rooms and spend time together.
If you don't provide a TV in the lounge, a tenant may bring their own instead. When they move out, the TV goes with them, and that can cause friction between the housemates over who replaces it.
Some features, such as providing en-suites, can affect both a room's rent and the property's value, depending on the local market. A TV is closer to basic furnishing.
Do HMOs Require a TV Licence?
Anyone who uses a lounge TV you provide to watch live TV or BBC iPlayer needs to be covered by a TV Licence. How they are covered depends on how the rooms are let.
When investing in professional HMOs let room by room, each tenant has their own tenancy agreement. In England, older room agreements may have been ASTs. Under the Renters' Rights Act, most existing ASTs became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026.
On separate tenancies, TV Licensing says each tenant who watches live TV or BBC iPlayer needs their own licence for their room. That licence also covers them when they watch in the lounge. A tenant who isn't covered by a licence for their room isn't covered in the lounge either.
A joint tenancy works differently. If all the tenants are on one joint tenancy, one TV Licence covers the whole house. A tenant may still need their own licence if they have a toilet, kitchen or washing facilities that only they use. TV Licensing's student guidance uses the same joint and separate tenancy rules, so they apply when investing in student HMOs, too.
Who pays depends on who installed the TV and on the tenancy agreement. TV Licensing's guidance for landlords says that when the landlord installed the TV, the landlord pays, unless the agreement says otherwise. Its guidance for tenants and lodgers says a tenant's own licence is their responsibility, unless the agreement says the landlord will pay. Neither page says how a landlord's licence and the tenants' own licences fit together in a house let room by room.
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