Broadband for Landlords and HMOs: What to Set Up and Who Pays

The practical answer: a landlord does not automatically have to supply broadband merely because a property is rented or is an HMO, and since the Renters' Rights Act abolished fixed-term tenancies in England from 1 May 2026, a broadband contract can no longer be assumed to end neatly with the tenancy. Decide whether the landlord or tenants will hold the provider contract, put the payment arrangement in the tenancy agreement, obtain any installation permission and test Wi-Fi throughout the property.

Who should arrange and pay for broadband?

In England, government guidance says broadband and landline costs may be included in rent or charged separately, but included bills must be set out in the tenancy agreement. The wider UK position and the wording needed for a particular tenancy can differ, so do not treat an informal advert saying “bills included” as the operating plan.

The Renters' Rights Act changed how tenancy and broadband terms align

From 1 May 2026, fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies in England were abolished under the Renters' Rights Act. Every tenancy is now a periodic tenancy with no fixed end date, so a landlord can no longer assume a household will simply leave when a 12-month tenancy “ends” and neatly hand back a broadband contract at the same time. A tenant can now give notice and leave at a point the landlord cannot fix in advance, while the property could equally stay occupied by the same household for years.

This makes the choice between a landlord-held rolling or flexible broadband contract and a long fixed-term deal more consequential than before. A landlord-held account that continues regardless of who currently lives in the room avoids repeatedly matching a broadband minimum term to a tenancy date that no longer exists in the same way. Where tenants hold their own contract, be explicit in the tenancy agreement about who pays any early-exit charge if they leave before a fixed broadband term ends, since the tenancy itself no longer has a comparable fixed end point to point to; our broadband contract end rights guide covers exit charges and end-of-contract notices in more detail.

What the tenancy agreement should cover

• whether broadband is included in rent or paid directly by tenants
• the person or business that holds the provider account
• who reports faults, approves engineer visits and can change the package
• any fair-use or lawful-use rules and how planned outages are communicated
• ownership and return of the router, mesh units and other provider equipment
• what happens to service and charges when occupiers move in or out

Do not promise a particular speed in every room unless the setup has been designed and tested to deliver it, and the agreement explains how performance is measured. Broadband speed to the router and Wi-Fi performance inside bedrooms are different things.

Choose the connection at the exact property

Run provider availability checks using the full address, not only the postcode. Record the expected download and upload speeds, minimum term, setup cost, annual price changes and fault support before ordering. If broadband is included for several unrelated occupiers, compare packages for simultaneous use rather than choosing from the tenant count alone.

There is no sound universal Mbps figure for each HMO tenant. Video calls, gaming, large uploads and 4K streaming create different loads, while the building layout changes Wi-Fi performance. List the likely simultaneous activities, allow sensible headroom and confirm whether the provider's router and support are suitable for the number of rooms and devices.

Get installation permission before the appointment

A new connection may involve drilling, external cabling, an optical network terminal or work in communal parts of a building. Virgin Media, for example, says a rented home that has not had its service before may need landlord permission. Flats and converted buildings can also require consent from a freeholder, managing agent or another party.

Agree the cable route, entry point, equipment position and responsibility for making good before work starts. Cabling that passes through a fire door, a protected escape route or a compartment wall needs a competent installer who understands the property's fire safety requirements, not a DIY run of cable under a door. Keep the written approval and installation record with the property documents. Leave fixed network equipment such as an Openreach ONT at the property when tenants change, and follow the relevant provider's instructions for removable equipment.

Plan HMO Wi-Fi room by room

Put the main router in an open, raised and reasonably central location where it can remain powered and secure. Ofcom notes that walls and materials such as metal, water and glass can weaken Wi-Fi. A router beside the incoming line may therefore be a poor solution for a tall, extended or heavily divided HMO.

• test every bedroom, living area and study space with doors closed
• test while several residents stream, call or work online at the same time
• use properly planned Ethernet and wireless access points for difficult layouts
• consider a supported mesh system where cabling is impractical
• keep network administration separate from the password shared with residents

Extenders and powerline adapters can help in some properties, but results depend on the layout and electrical wiring. Test the chosen design rather than assuming more boxes will fix a weak connection.

Segment the network between unrelated tenants

A single shared Wi-Fi password on a standard consumer router exposes every tenant's devices to every other tenant on the same network, a real privacy and security risk between people who are not one household. The National Residential Landlords Association recommends per-room network separation using commercial-grade access points and managed switches rather than one flat shared network, specifically to stop tenants' devices and traffic being visible to each other. This also narrows a landlord's own exposure: if one tenant misuses the connection, a segmented network makes it easier to isolate and address than a single shared password covering the whole building.

Use a landlord or management email address that will remain available when tenants leave. Store the provider account number, contract end date, equipment list, router administration details and fault process securely. Give residents the Wi-Fi credentials they need without sharing the provider login or router administration password, change shared credentials after a difficult handover, and keep router software updated.

If the property uses smart locks, alarms or other managed equipment, separate them from resident or guest access where the network supports it and document what stops working during a broadband or power failure. Our small office broadband setup guide covers the same segmentation and WPA3 principles for a shared building network in more technical detail.

Specialist HMO broadband providers vs standard residential

Standard residential broadband packages are not designed around several unrelated tenants, multiple floors, fire doors and a large number of connected devices. Specialist landlord broadband providers exist specifically for this: Landlord Broadband, an NRLA-partnered service, offers professionally cabled and networked systems ranging from mesh Wi-Fi for a smaller HMO up to full apartment-block networks, a 24/7 UK-based tenant support desk and a published no-dead-zone coverage guarantee for qualifying installations, though it does not publish fixed prices and instead offers a free property assessment. Virgin Media Business separately sells a multi-property package aimed at landlords and letting agents with consolidated billing and account management across several rental sites.

Before moving an HMO onto a business broadband contract to get a service genuinely designed for multiple tenants, check what protection you would lose. Independent reporting suggests only a minority of UK providers apply Ofcom's residential fairness commitments, including minimum service guarantees and rights if speed underperforms, to their business contracts. A purpose-built multi-tenant HMO product or a specialist landlord broadband service can be a safer middle ground than either an ordinary shared residential contract used well beyond its intended household size, or a standard business contract that quietly drops residential-grade protections.

Manage tenant changes and contract endings

A landlord-held account is usually easier to keep continuous across room-by-room tenancy changes. Review the deal before its minimum term ends and retain end-of-contract notices. Ofcom says broadband contracts are commonly 12, 18 or 24 months and an early exit may attract a charge, so match the term to the intended operating model.

If tenants hold the contract, the named customer should follow the provider's moving or cancellation process and return any required equipment. Do not assume a new occupier can take over another person's account. Confirm the provider's process early enough to avoid an unwanted cancellation, overlapping order or gap in service; our UK broadband switching guide covers the One Touch Switch process a new occupier would use to move to a different provider.

Landlord and HMO broadband checklist

1. Check the HMO definition, licensing position and any local licence conditions.
2. Choose who holds the broadband contract and state who pays in the tenancy agreement.
3. Check address-level availability and compare the total contract cost and support.
4. Obtain all permissions and agree the installation route in writing.
5. Plan router, cabling, access points and secure administration.
6. Test every occupied and shared area under realistic simultaneous use.
7. Record fault reporting, equipment ownership and tenant handover steps.
8. Review the package before the contract ends or the occupancy model changes.