England council licensing directory
Property licensing by council
A page for every English council. Each one shows the council's current selective licensing, additional HMO licensing and mandatory HMO position, with the fees, dates and areas covered. Use the postcode checker on the home page for a specific property.
Councils in the directory
296
Councils with active schemes
82
Population covered
100%
For landlords
Do not let a council licence rule change catch you out
A council can start a scheme, change its area or update its rules. Save the exact rental address and Landlord Pro checks its licensing result every day, then emails you when it changes.
All councils, alphabetical
Type a council name to filter. Dots show whether the council runs selective licensing, additional HMO licensing, both, or neither.
See the coverage map if you want a visual view across England.
Common questions about the council directory
- How do I find the right council for a property?
- Use the postcode checker on the home page. Every postcode in England resolves to one council, and we use the ONS postcode to local authority mapping.
- Why do some councils show no local scheme?
- Selective licensing and additional HMO licensing are discretionary. A council can choose not to operate either, in which case only the national mandatory HMO rule applies. That is the default position in most rural and smaller councils.
- What does Property Licence track per council?
- The council's licensing status, every current selective and additional HMO scheme, the scheme dates, fees where published, the areas the scheme covers (council-wide, ward list, street list or mapped boundary), exemptions, and the council's licensing contact and apply URLs.
- How often is each council page updated?
- We re-check each council's licensing pages on a schedule. The 'last checked' date on each council page is the day we last confirmed the data against the council's own pages. Changes to fees or designations get picked up at the next check.