Your Licensing Update for March
In our licensing blog this month we round up all the latest licensing consultations and how to respond to them, as well as full details of all the new schemes coming into force.
Active consultations:
Rotherham Council
Rotherham Council is consulting on the future of selective licensing in the borough with plans to renew and expand their current licensing scheme.
The council has proposed six areas:
- Brinsworth
- Dinnington
- Rotherham Town Centre/Eastwood
- Masbrough
- Parkgate
- Thurcroft
The council says extending the scheme will give them extra resources to ensure all the private rented properties in the area are safe, in good condition and well managed.
The proposed standard licence fee is £995 per property, with discounts available for applicants who received a ‘better management rebate’ from the 2020-2025 scheme.
The consultation will close on 17 March and further information about the proposals and how to respond can be found here.
Islington
The London Borough of Islington is proposing to expand selective licensing and to renew its current borough-wide additional licensing scheme for a further five years.
The council wants to expand selective licensing to the following nine wards:
- Barnsbury
- Caledonian
- Tufnell Park
- Mildmay
- Highbury
- Junction
- Laycock
- Canonbury
- Clerkenwell
The council says property licensing helps them regulate the condition and management of private rented properties in the borough and helps reduce other problems caused by poorly managed privately rented properties such as anti-social behaviour and waste management issues.
The proposed licence fee for selective licensing is £800 per licence, with discounts available for accreditation, multiple properties and high EPC ratings. The proposed additional licensing fee is £900 per licence, with discounts also available for accreditation.
The consultation closes on 13 April and further details about the proposals and to submit feedback to the consultation click here.
Wirral Council
Wirral Council is consulting on plans to expand selective licensing to six new areas of the borough. The proposed areas are:
- Birkenhead Central
- Lower Tranmere
- Tranmere North
- Hamilton Square B
- Tranmere Lairds
- Egremont South
The local authority said these areas have been identified using research from its intelligence service as having the poorest conditions as well as higher than average levels of private rented stock, along with low housing demand.
It said the proposed licence fee will be based on the costs of administering the scheme, with discounts available for:
- landlords who apply during the first three months of the scheme
- landlords with multiple properties and existing accreditation with the council or a national landlord association.
It says landlords licensed under the scheme will have access to benefits including a free tenancy support service, free bulky waste collections and free healthy home visits.
The consultation will end on 10 March. For further information about the proposals and to submit feedback click here.
North East Lincolnshire Council
North East Lincolnshire council is consulting on plans to introduce a selective licensing scheme, with proposals set to include just under 4,000 properties in East Marsh.
Licence fees will range from £899 to £1,284. Early bird discounts are available with those who are members of a recognised landlord accreditation scheme also eligble for money off the fee.
The closes on 7 April. For further information about the proposals and how to respond click here.
Camden
The London Borough of Camden is currently consulting on renewing its borough-wide additional licensing scheme. The current scheme, which ends in December this year, is due for renewal and the council wants to extend it. It says ther new scheme will focus on improving safety, conditions and management of small HMOs.
The proposed scheme will also be borough-wide, with fees range from £1,383 to £1,570.
The consultation closes on 8 April. Further information about the proposed scheme and how to respond can be found here.
Schemes coming into force:
Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest has recently been granted permission by the Secretary of State to proceed with a large-scale selective licensing scheme to come into force next year.
The scheme will cover 20 wards in the borough, excluding Hatch Lane & Highams Park North and Endlebury. The scheme will apply to all houses or individual flats that are privately rented and occupied by a single household or by no more than two unrelated persons unless is subject to any statutory exemption.
The scheme will come into force on 1 May and will end on 31 March 2030. The licence fee is £700 per property.
For further information about the scheme, the council’s property licensing team can be contacted via email here: [email protected] or via telephone on 0208 496 4949.
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council has approved new selective and additional licensing schemes to come into force from next year in the city. The new selective licensing scheme will cover:
- Cowgate
- Howdene Road, part of Howlett Road
- Ravenburn Gardens
- Part of Swinley Gardens in Benwell
- West End
- Columbia Grange
- Denton Court
- Lemington
This scheme will come into force from 5 April and will end on 5 April 2030.
The new additional licensing scheme will cover the entire city of Newcastle and will also come into force on 5 April and end on 5 April 2030. Properties occupied by three or four people made up of two or more households and in which people share facilities such as the kitchen or bathroom fall under this additional licensing scheme.
The council says there are persistent problems caused by anti-social behaviour and poor conditions with additional licensing aiming to improve the management of these properties.
Fees for a selective licence are £900 per licence, and £1,000 for an additional licence. Discounts are available for accreditation and for those whose properties have an EPC rating of C and above.
Further information about the new schemes can be found on the council's website here.
North Lincolnshire Council
North Lincolnshire council has approved a selective licensing scheme which comes into force on 20 March and will end on 19 March 2030. The designation applies to Crosby & Park Town.
The licence fee is £955 per property for a five-year licence.
For further information about the scheme, the council can be contacted via email at [email protected] or via telephone on 01724 296051. The public notice designation can be found here.
Coventry City Council
Coventry City Council is renewing the borough-wide additional licensing scheme for the city. The council consulted earlier on this year and approval was granted on 7th October last year, with the scheme coming into force on 4 May 2025 and ending on 3 May 2030.
It will cover HMOs which are occupied by three or four occupiers and any HMO defined under section 257 of the Housing Act 2004.
The licence fee is based on certain eligibility criteria, and ranges from £820 per licence to £2,070.
Landlords who need to contact the council for further information and to apply for a licence can either email the HMO licensing department: [email protected] or ring the department on 024 7697 5467.
Barking and Dagenham
The council has confirmed a new selective licensing scheme which will cover three targeted designation areas in the borough. The scheme will run for five years, replacing the previous initiative, which ended last year. The scheme will come into force on 6 April.
There are three designations for this scheme:
Designation Area 1 will include:
- Alibon
- Barking Riverside
- Beam
- Becontree
- Chadwell Heath
- Eastbury
- Goresbrook
- Heath
- Longbridge
- Mayesbrook
- Parsloes
- Thames View
- Valence
- Village
- Whalebone
Designation Area 2 will include:
- Abbey
- Gascoigne
- Northbury
Designation Area 3 will include:
- Eastbrook
- Rush Green
Licence fees will be £950 per property, with discounts available for accredited landlords and those who have been given a satisfactory rating from compliance audit inspections.
Further information about the scheme and how to apply for licences can be found here.
Blackpool Council
Following Secretary of State approval, the council has confirmed a selective licensing scheme will be coming into force in the inner area of Blackpool. The scheme will cover the following areas:
- Bloomfield
- Brunswick
- Claremont
- Talbot
- Tyldesley
- Warbreck
- Waterloo
The scheme covers 11,000 privately rented properties and will come into force on 1 April and end on 31st March 2030. Licence fees will start at £572 for landlords who meet the Blackpool Standard, with discounts available for those who apply within the first three months of the scheme and those whose properties have an EPC rating of C or above.
Landlords who need to contact the council for further information can email: [email protected] or telephone: 01253 477477. There is a interactive map available on the council’s website to check if the scheme applies to their property which can be accessed here.
Burnley Council
Burnley Council has recently approved a selective licensing scheme to cover several areas of the borough.
The new scheme will come into force on 27 April 2025 and end on 26 April 2030. The new scheme will cover the areas of:
- Trinity
- Gannow
- Queensgate
- Daneshouse & Stoneyholme
- Padiham
The licence fee for a new online application will be £750 per property, with an online renewal/additional property costing £670 per property. Discounts are available for early applications and members of the council’s Good Landlord and Agent Scheme (GLAS).
Further information about the scheme and how to apply can be found on the council’s website here.
