Property Licence

Free property licensing checker for England

Does your rental property need a licence?

Most private rented homes in England do not need a licence. A meaningful minority do. It depends on the postcode, the property setup, and the council. Enter the postcode and we tell you which licences apply and where the answer comes from.

English councils covered
296 English councils
Active local schemes
133 active local schemes
Schemes tracked
442 schemes tracked
Check frequency
Council sources re-read daily

Landlord Pro

The check above is only true today

Councils designate new schemes, redraw areas and raise fees every year. Landlord Pro re-runs this check for each saved address every day and emails you when the answer changes. It also keeps your certificates, dates and evidence with the property.

  • Alert when a scheme starts, ends, changes area or changes fee
  • Reminders at 90, 60, 30 and 14 days for licence, gas, EICR, EPC and fire dates
  • Encrypted certificate store with version history
  • Evidence pack and CSV export for up to 10 properties
Save and monitor a property See exactly what we check

£144 a year (£12 a month) or £15 paid monthly. Up to 10 properties. The postcode check stays free.

12 Example Street, M14 5AA

Manchester City Council · checked today

Monitoring

Council licensing

Selective scheme matched

Address is inside the scheme area. Scheme ends 4 Mar 2028. Fee £1,050.

Council source checked today

Next reminder

Gas safety certificate

Due in 30 days · 2 versions stored

Reminders at 60, 30 and 14 days

Last alert · 14 Aug 2026

Council changed the licence fee: £950 to £1,050. Council source linked in the email.

Property licensing coverage across England

Click any council on the map for a quick read on its current licensing position. Coloured councils run a selective scheme, an additional HMO scheme, or both. Grey councils have been reviewed and run neither, so only the national mandatory HMO rule applies there.

Open the full coverage map and table

The three licence types you might need

Property licensing in England is not one rule, it is three. Each has a different trigger and scope. Most rented homes need no licence or one licence. Mandatory and additional HMO licensing do not both apply to the same property.

Selective licensing

A council picks part of its area, and inside that boundary almost every private rented home needs a licence. The household setup does not matter.

 Additional HMO licensing

Three or four people sharing a kitchen and bathroom is a small HMO. Some councils licence those properties on top of the national rule. The boundary depends on which scheme the council has designated.

 Mandatory HMO licensing

Five or more occupiers from two or more households usually triggers mandatory licensing anywhere in England. The property setup and statutory exemptions still matter.

Who needs a property licence in England

The unhelpful but accurate answer is: it depends. The helpful version is that the answer comes from three independent questions, asked in order. Get the no on all three and the property does not need a licence at all. A yes on any one of them means a licence is needed for that specific scheme.

Question one is about the property setup. Five or more people from two or more households sharing facilities usually meets the mandatory HMO test anywhere in England. Apply before the property becomes licensable, unless a statutory exemption applies.

Question two is about the council and the property setup together. Three or four people from two or more households makes the property a small HMO under section 254. Whether that needs a licence depends on whether the council runs an additional HMO scheme that covers the address.

Question three is about the council and the address. A privately rented home in a single household sits outside HMO licensing entirely. Whether it needs a licence depends on whether the council has designated the address for selective licensing.

The postcode checker at the top of the page runs all three checks at once. The address-level check is optional but matters when the scheme uses a street list.

Why this is worth getting right

Letting an unlicensed property when a licence is required is a criminal offence. The council can prosecute through the magistrates' court, or apply a civil penalty of up to £40,000 per offence under section 249A of the Housing Act 2004 without going to court. The civil penalty route is faster and is now the default in most councils.

Tenants of an unlicensed property can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order under section 41 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The order can recover up to twelve months of rent already paid. Universal Credit and housing benefit paid for the same period can be reclaimed by the council.

Repeated housing offences can lead to a banning order, which can stop a landlord or agent from letting or managing property. Licensing offences can also affect the landlord database and future licence applications.

How the property licence checker works

A property licence check takes three short steps. The postcode does most of the work. The address sharpens the answer for schemes that use a street list.

  1. 1. Postcode finds the council

    We use the ONS postcode to local authority mapping. Every postcode in England resolves to one council. The council tells us which local licensing rules to check.

  2. 2. Council schemes are checked against the address

    If the council runs a council-wide scheme, the postcode is enough for a definite yes. For ward, polygon and street-list schemes we ask for the property address and check it against the published scheme area.

  3. 3. Mandatory HMO rule runs on top

    The national mandatory rule is applied to the property setup independently of the council answer. A short prompt for occupier count and household count gives you a quick read on whether mandatory HMO licensing applies.

Popular council reports

Every council with an active local scheme has a dedicated page covering its selective licensing, additional HMO licensing, fees, dates and scheme areas. These are the most-searched councils.

Browse all 296 English councils

Built on current council data

Council licensing schemes change. Designations get renewed, fees go up, ward lists get redrawn. Property Licence re-checks every council page on a schedule and updates the listing when anything material changes. The "last checked" date on each council page is the day we last confirmed the data against the council's own pages.

A postcode result on this site reflects the council's published position the last time we looked. For decisions that carry real money or legal risk, the council's licensing team is always the final authority. The contact details for every council's licensing team are on the council's page.

Common questions about property licensing

Does my property need a licence?
Only if one of three rules catches it. A selective licensing scheme covering the address, an additional HMO licensing scheme covering the property setup, or the national mandatory HMO rule at five or more occupiers from two or more households. Run a property licence check with the postcode at the top of this page to see which of the three applies.
Do I need a landlord licence in England?
Sometimes. A licence is needed when the council operates a selective licensing scheme that covers the property, when the council operates an additional HMO licensing scheme that catches the property setup, or when the property meets the mandatory HMO threshold of five or more occupiers from two or more households. Outside those three triggers, no licence is needed.
Does my property need a licence if I rent to family?
Renting to a family member at a market rent under a tenancy agreement is treated the same as any other private let for licensing purposes. The selective licensing rule looks at the address, not the relationship. A rent-free arrangement with a relative is more likely to fall outside the rule because there is usually no tenancy in the legal sense.
What is the difference between selective and HMO licensing?
Selective licensing catches private rented homes inside a designated council area, regardless of who lives in them. HMO licensing catches properties shared by enough households to meet the section 254 test. A property cannot need both at the same time. Where the HMO test is met and an HMO licence applies, the selective licence is not also required.
How do I check if a property needs a licence?
Enter the postcode in the checker on this page. We confirm the council, then check the property setup against the council's current licensing schemes. If the scheme uses a street list, picking the specific address sharpens the answer to a yes or no.
What happens if I rent without a licence when one is needed?
The council can prosecute, or apply a civil penalty of up to £40,000 per offence under section 249A of the Housing Act 2004. Tenants can also apply for a rent repayment order of up to twelve months of rent.
How long does a property licence last?
Most selective and additional HMO licences run for five years. Mandatory HMO licences usually run for five years as well, although the council can issue a shorter term where the property or the licence holder do not yet meet the council's standard. The licence does not transfer when the property is sold.
Where does this checker get its data?
Council licensing pages, designation notices, application forms and public registers, plus the ONS postcode to local authority mapping. We re-check the council sources on a schedule so the answers track the council, not a snapshot from a year ago.