Selective licensing: how to check whether your property needs a licence

Three licensing regimes apply to England landlords — mandatory HMO, additional HMO, and selective. Here is how to tell them apart, how to check your council, and what happens if you let unlicensed.

Most English landlords need no licence. A growing minority do — and letting an unlicensed property is one of the few landlord offences that can trigger a Rent Repayment Order for up to 12 months' rent. This page explains the three regimes and how to verify your own address against the council that publishes the rules.

Scope. This page covers England only, under Parts 2 and 3 of the Housing Act 2004.

The three regimes

1. Mandatory HMO licensing (national)

Applies to any House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) occupied by 5 or more people forming 2 or more households, anywhere in England. Set out in Housing Act 2004, Part 2. GOV.UK summary: House in multiple occupation licence.

2. Additional HMO licensing (council-designated)

A council can extend HMO licensing to smaller HMOs in part or all of its area. Same Part 2 powers, broader scope. You have to read the designation on your council's website — there is no national register.

3. Selective licensing (council-designated, non-HMO)

Under Housing Act 2004, Part 3, a council can require every privately rented property in a defined area (often a ward or a set of streets) to hold a licence, regardless of how many occupiers live there. Designations typically run for 5 years and must be approved by the Secretary of State if they cover more than 20% of the local authority area or 20% of privately rented homes.

How to check your own address

There is no single national register. The authoritative source is always the council that covers the property's postcode. The steps:

1. Find your local council via GOV.UK — Find your local council. 2. Search the council site for "selective licensing" and for "HMO licensing" — both designations are published separately. 3. Confirm the designation map / street list, the start and end dates of the designation, and the current fee. 4. Keep a dated screenshot of the page you relied on — councils retire designations and start new ones every few years.

We maintain a directory of English councils with deep links to each licensing page, and a postcode licensing helper that points you at the right council. Neither tool gives a verdict — only the council can do that.

Worked examples (live designations at the time of writing)

These three councils all run published selective-licensing schemes. Use them as a sense-check before searching for your own:

Liverpool City Council — operates a citywide selective licensing scheme. See the council's private rented property licensing pages for the current designation dates.
Nottingham City Council — operates a selective licensing designation. See /council/nottingham for the current designation dates.
Croydon London Borough Council — selective and additional designations across multiple wards. See /council/croydon.

Always click through to the council page itself. Designation boundaries and dates change.

What happens if you let unlicensed

If a property requires a licence and you have not obtained one:

Civil penalty up to £30,000 per offence as an alternative to prosecution (Housing and Planning Act 2016, s.126).
Criminal prosecution under Housing Act 2004 s.95 with an unlimited fine on conviction.
Rent Repayment Order of up to 12 months' rent to the tenant or to the council under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 guidance.
Banning order for serious or repeat offenders, and entry on the database of rogue landlords and property agents.
Possession is restricted while a property that requires a licence is unlicensed. Section 21 was abolished in England on 1 May 2026; see GOV.UK for how the restriction applies to the Section 8 route.

Quick checklist

[ ] Identified the local authority by postcode.
[ ] Checked both the council's selective licensing page and its HMO licensing page.
[ ] Confirmed the property's street is inside any current designation.
[ ] Noted the designation start and end dates.
[ ] Saved a dated screenshot of the page for your records.
[ ] If a licence is needed, applied before granting the tenancy.