Council wants to reduce HMO occupancy

HMO Licensing

I have a 5-bed HMO and have applied for a mandatory licence for the first time. There are 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and a spacious garden. The bedroom sizes are (in sq metres): 14.9, 14.2, 19.0, 12.9, 17.7. The national minimum for a couple is 10.22 sq metres.

I currently have 6 people in the house: one couple and 4 single adults. It is a big old house, with high ceilings, and could provide reasonably spacious accommodation for 7 people without overloading shared facilities.

I have just received the draft licence from the Council. They want to limit the total occupancy of the house to 5.

How should I go about challenging this?

As well as advice from NRLA staff, I would welcome hearing of any experiences of fellow landlords.