Selective licensing councils in England: the full list

Written by GenZAgents, reviewed 3 November 2026. Each scheme read on the council's own website on 28 October 2026. Sources below.

72 of England's 296 councils license private lets beyond the national HMO rules: 53 run selective licensing and 51 run additional licensing for shared houses. Most selective schemes cover only some wards or streets. A council licence does not count as registration on the new landlord database, which opens on 15 December 2026, so licensed landlords pay both fees.

53councils with selective licensing

51with additional HMO licensing

27 of 33London boroughs with a scheme

9schemes due to end by November 2027

Does your council license your let?

Only the postcode goes to postcodes.io to find the council. To check gas, EICR and EPC dates as well, run the full check.

Licensed? You still register, and pay both

From 15 December 2026 every private landlord in England must register each let on the private rented sector database, region by region, at about £65 a property a year. The draft regulations give no exemption or discount for homes that already hold a selective or additional licence, and the registration form asks for the licence number. A licence costs several hundred pounds for five years, set by each council. See what the database fee covers and the first-year cost per property.

Mandatory HMO licensing (five or more people from two or more households) applies in every council and is not listed here.

Schemes due to end by November 2027

A designation lasts up to five years. Councils usually consult on renewing it in the year before it ends, and since December 2024 they no longer need the government's approval, whatever the size. These are the schemes whose current end date falls in the next twelve months or so.

Ends	Council	Scheme	Where
30 November 2026	Southend-on-Sea	Selective	Parts: designated neighbourhoods within Milton, Kursaal, Victoria and Chalkwell wards
8 December 2026	Lambeth	Additional HMO	Whole borough
1 March 2027	Southwark	Additional HMO	Whole borough
31 March 2027	County Durham	Selective	Parts: 103 designated areas (LSOAs) across the county
25 July 2027	Ashfield	Selective	Parts: Stanton Hill and Sutton Central (New Cross)
31 August 2027	Oxford	Selective	Whole city
31 August 2027	Walsall	Additional HMO	Parts: Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck and St Matthews wards (Scheme One)
11 September 2027	East Staffordshire	Selective	Parts: 8 streets in Burton upon Trent (incl. Blackpool St, Broadway St, Goodman St, King St, Queen St, Shobnall St, Uxbridge St, Waterloo St)
1 October 2027	Greenwich	Selective	Parts of Plumstead (Glyndon/Plumstead Common), Shooters Hill, Woolwich Common and Woolwich Riverside wards

New schemes starting

Starts	Council	Scheme	Where
24 November 2026	Salford	Additional HMO	Whole city, Section 257 HMOs (converted blocks of flats) only
4 January 2027	Medway	Additional HMO	Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Watling wards
4 January 2027	Medway	Selective	Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, Watling wards
6 January 2027	Harrow	Additional HMO	See the council's map

Every council with a scheme, by region

5 selective schemes cover a whole borough or city; the rest cover named wards or streets, so check the council's map. "Dates" is the end of the current designation where the council publishes it. We could not read 15 councils' websites; they are left out rather than guessed.

Filter by council or region

East Midlands 8 councils · database deadline 14 May 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Ashfield	Selective	Parts: Stanton Hill and Sutton Central (New Cross)	until 25 July 2027	Council page
Charnwood	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 31 March 2028	Council page
Charnwood	Selective	Parts: Loughborough Hastings and Loughborough Lemyngton (pre-2023 ward boundaries)	until 31 March 2028	Council page
Gedling	Selective	Parts: Netherfield ward (Phase 1a); prescribed areas of Carlton Hill, Colwick, Daybrook and Newstead Village (Phase 2)	in force	Council page
Leicester	Selective	Parts: Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, Fosse, Westcotes, Stoneygate, Saffron	in force	Council page
Mansfield	Selective	Parts: streets in Central, West Bank, Wainwright, Market Warsop, Eakring, Rock Hill and Bancroft wards (5 areas)	until 12 September 2030	Council page
Nottingham	Additional HMO	Whole city	until 31 December 2028	Council page
Nottingham	Selective	Parts: some or all of Aspley, Basford, Berridge, Bulwell, Bulwell Forest, Castle, Dales, Hyson Green & Arboretum, Leen Valley, Lenton & Wollaton East, Mapperley, Meadows, Radford, Sherwood, St Anns wards	until 30 November 2028	Council page
Oadby and Wigston	Selective	Parts: part of Wigston and South Wigston	in force	Council page
West Northamptonshire	Additional HMO	Parts: areas of Northampton (incl. the 2020-2025 scheme area) and Daventry	in force	Council page

East of England 5 councils · database deadline 14 April 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Bedford	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 20 May 2028	Council page
Luton	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Luton	Selective	Parts: Town Centre and Park Town areas	in force	Council page
Peterborough	Additional HMO	Whole city	until 25 January 2031	Council page
Peterborough	Selective	Parts: designated areas within Bretton, Central, East, Fletton and Stanground, Fletton and Woodston, North, Orton Waterville, Park, Paston and Walton, Stanground South wards	until 10 March 2029	Council page
Southend-on-Sea	Selective	Parts: designated neighbourhoods within Milton, Kursaal, Victoria and Chalkwell wards	until 30 November 2026	Council page
Thurrock	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Thurrock	Selective	Parts: 16 of 20 wards (all except Little Thurrock Blackshots, Orsett, Stifford Clays, The Homesteads)	until 4 January 2031	Council page

London 27 councils · database deadline 14 October 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Barking and Dagenham	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 8 January 2030	Council page
Barking and Dagenham	Selective	Whole borough (three designation areas covering all 19 wards)	until 5 April 2030	Council page
Bexley	Selective	Parts: Belvedere ward	until 12 January 2030	Council page
Brent	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 2 February 2031	Council page
Brent	Selective	Whole borough except Wembley Park ward (Designation 1: Harlesden & Kensal Green, Dollis Hill, Willesden Green; Designation 2: other 18 wards)	in force	Council page
Camden	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 8 December 2030	Council page
Croydon	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Croydon	Selective	Parts: 14 wards (Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Bensham Manor, Broad Green, Fairfield, Norbury and Pollards Hill, Norbury Park, Selhurst, South Croydon, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Waddon, West Thornton, Woodside)	in force	Council page
Ealing	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Ealing	Selective	Parts: Designation 1 (East Acton, Southall Broadway, Southall Green) and Designation 2 (Acton Central, Dormers Wells, Greenford Broadway, Greenford Green, Hanger Hill, Hobbayne, Lady Margaret, North Greenford, Northolt Mandeville, Northolt West End, Perivale, South Acton), pre-May-2022 ward boundaries	in force	Council page
Greenwich	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 31 December 2028	Council page
Greenwich	Selective	Parts of Plumstead (Glyndon/Plumstead Common), Shooters Hill, Woolwich Common and Woolwich Riverside wards	until 1 October 2027	Council page
Hackney	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Hackney	Selective	Parts: 17 of 21 wards (Brownswood, Cazenove, Clissold, Dalston, De Beauvoir, Hackney Central, Hackney Downs, Hackney Wick, Homerton, King's Park, Lea Bridge, London Fields, Shacklewell, Springfield, Stamford Hill West, Stoke Newington, Victoria)	until 30 April 2031	Council page
Hammersmith and Fulham	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Hammersmith and Fulham	Selective	Parts: 24 named streets	in force	Council page
Haringey	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 16 June 2029	Council page
Haringey	Selective	Parts: 14 wards (Bounds Green, Bruce Castle, Harringay, Hermitage and Gardens, Noel Park, Northumberland Park, Seven Sisters, South Tottenham, St Ann's, Tottenham Central, Tottenham Hale, West Green, White Hart Lane, Woodside)	in force	Council page
Harrow	Additional HMO	See the council's map	starts 6 January 2027	Council page
Harrow	Selective	Parts: Edgware, Roxeth (from 2 May 2026); Greenhill, Marlborough (from 6 Jul 2026); Wealdstone North, Wealdstone South (from 1 Sep 2026)	in force	Council page
Havering	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 17 March 2031	Council page
Havering	Selective	Parts: 7 wards (Beam Park, Harold Wood, Rainham and Wennington, Rush Green and Crowlands, Squirrels Heath, St Albans, St Edwards)	until 17 March 2031	Council page
Hillingdon	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 23 August 2031	Council page
Hounslow	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 10 December 2030	Council page
Islington	Selective	Parts: Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington wards; Barnsbury, Caledonian, Highbury, Junction, Laycock, Mildmay and Tufnell Park wards are added from 23 November 2026	in force	Council page
Kensington and Chelsea	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Lambeth	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 8 December 2026	Council page
Lambeth	Selective	Parts: all wards except Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank (Phase 1: 4 Streatham/Knights Hill wards from 2 Sep 2024; Phase 2: 19 wards from 1 Sep 2025)	in force	Council page
Lewisham	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Lewisham	Selective	Most of borough (excludes e.g. Telegraph Hill and parts of Blackheath; see council map)	in force	Council page
Merton	Additional HMO	Parts: Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Lavender Fields, Longthornton, Pollards Hill wards	in force	Council page
Merton	Selective	Parts: Figge's Marsh, Graveney, Longthornton, Pollards Hill wards	in force	Council page
Newham	Additional HMO	Whole borough except Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park wards	in force	Council page
Newham	Selective	Whole borough except Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park wards	in force	Council page
Redbridge	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 17 September 2028	Council page
Redbridge	Selective	Parts: Scheme 3 (Valentines, Ilford Town) and Scheme 4 (Aldborough, Barkingside, Chadwell, Churchfields, Clementswood, Cranbrook, Fairlop, Goodmayes, Hainault, Loxford, Mayfield, Newbury, Seven Kings, South Woodford, Wanstead Village)	in force	Council page
Southwark	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 1 March 2027	Council page
Southwark	Selective	Parts: 19 wards in Designations 1-4 (incl. Champion Hill, Newington, Faraday, Goose Green, St Giles, North Walworth, Nunhead & Queens Road, Old Kent Road, Peckham, Camberwell Green, Chaucer, Dulwich Hill, Dulwich Wood, London Bridge & West Bermondsey, Peckham Rye, Rotherhithe, Rye Lane, South Bermondsey, Surrey Docks)	in force	Council page
Sutton	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Tower Hamlets	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 31 March 2029	Council page
Waltham Forest	Additional HMO	HMOs with 3 or more people outside mandatory licensing, including flats in purpose-built blocks of more than two flats	until 31 May 2030	Council page
Waltham Forest	Selective	Whole borough except Hatch Lane, Highams Park North and Endlebury wards	until 30 April 2030	Council page
Wandsworth	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 30 June 2030	Council page
Wandsworth	Selective	Parts: Designation 1 (Furzedown, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway, South Balham) from 1 Jul 2025; Designation 2 (East Putney, West Putney, Northcote) from 1 Apr 2026	in force	Council page
Westminster	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 30 August 2031	Council page
Westminster	Selective	Parts: 15 of 18 wards (excludes Pimlico South, St James's, Vincent Square)	in force	Council page

North East 4 councils · database deadline 14 September 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
County Durham	Selective	Parts: 103 designated areas (LSOAs) across the county	until 31 March 2027	Council page
Middlesbrough	Selective	Parts: the Newport area	in force	Council page
Newcastle upon Tyne	Additional HMO	Whole city	in force	Council page
Newcastle upon Tyne	Selective	Parts: Cowgate, West End Terraces, Howdene Road/Howlett Hall Road area (Benwell), Lemington, Denton Court, Columbia Grange (2025 scheme); Byker and Greater High Cross (2026 scheme)	in force	Council page
Northumberland	Selective	Parts: Croft ward area of Blyth	until 13 October 2029	Council page

North West 6 councils · database deadline 14 August 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Blackpool	Selective	Parts: eight inner wards (Bloomfield, Brunswick, Claremont, Talbot, Tyldesley, Victoria, Warbreck, Waterloo)	until 31 March 2030	Council page
Burnley	Selective	Parts: Burnley Wood with Healey Wood, Leyland Road area (2022-2027); Trinity, Queensgate, Gannow, Daneshouse and Stoneyholme, Padiham (2025-2030)	in force	Council page
Oldham	Selective	Parts: five areas within Alexandra, St Mary's, St James, Waterhead, Coldhurst, Werneth, Chadderton South, Hollinwood and Medlock Vale wards	in force	Council page
Salford	Additional HMO	Whole city, Section 257 HMOs (converted blocks of flats) only	starts 24 November 2026	Council page
Salford	Selective	Parts: Eccles, Barton and Winton area (2022-2027); Broughton, Kersal and Broughton Park area (2026-2031)	in force	Council page
Sefton	Additional HMO	Parts of Seaforth, Waterloo, Brighton-le-Sands and Southport	until 29 February 2028	Council page
Sefton	Selective	Parts of Bootle	until 29 February 2028	Council page
Wirral	Selective	Parts: Bidston and St James West, Birkenhead West, Egremont North, Seacombe St Paul's (2024 scheme); six LSOA areas in parts of Birkenhead and Wallasey (2025 scheme)	in force	Council page

South East 8 councils · database deadline 14 June 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Arun	Additional HMO	Parts: River ward (Littlehampton); Hotham and Marine wards (Bognor Regis)	until 31 January 2030	Council page
Brighton and Hove	Additional HMO	Whole city	until 30 June 2029	Council page
Brighton and Hove	Selective	Parts: Kemptown, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queens Park, Whitehawk and Marina wards	until 1 September 2029	Council page
Medway	Additional HMO	Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Watling wards	starts 4 January 2027	Council page
Medway	Selective	Parts: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, Watling wards	starts 4 January 2027	Council page
Oxford	Additional HMO	Whole city	in force	Council page
Oxford	Selective	Whole city	until 31 August 2027	Council page
Portsmouth	Additional HMO	Whole city	until 31 August 2028	Council page
Reading	Additional HMO	Whole borough	in force	Council page
Southampton	Additional HMO	Parts: Bevois, Bargate, Banister & Polygon, Portswood, Swaythling, Shirley, Bassett, Freemantle & Millbrook wards	until 30 September 2030	Council page
Woking	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 4 January 2031	Council page

South West 2 councils · database deadline 14 November 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Bristol	Additional HMO	Whole city	in force	Council page
Bristol	Selective	Parts: Bishopston and Ashley Down, Cotham, Easton wards (from 6 Aug 2024); Bedminster and Brislington West wards (from 6 Apr 2022)	in force	Council page
Gloucester	Additional HMO	Whole city	in force	Council page

West Midlands 6 councils · database deadline 14 March 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Birmingham	Additional HMO	Whole city (all wards)	until 4 June 2028	Council page
Birmingham	Selective	Parts: 25 of the city's 69 wards	in force	Council page
Coventry	Additional HMO	Whole city	until 3 May 2030	Council page
East Staffordshire	Selective	Parts: 8 streets in Burton upon Trent (incl. Blackpool St, Broadway St, Goodman St, King St, Queen St, Shobnall St, Uxbridge St, Waterloo St)	until 11 September 2027	Council page
Sandwell	Additional HMO	Whole borough	until 30 September 2029	Council page
Walsall	Additional HMO	Parts: Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck and St Matthews wards (Scheme One)	until 31 August 2027	Council page
Warwick	Additional HMO	Whole district	in force	Council page

Yorkshire and The Humber 6 councils · database deadline 14 July 2027

Council	Scheme	Where	Dates	Source
Doncaster	Selective	Parts: Hexthorpe	in force	Council page
Leeds	Selective	Parts: East, South and West Leeds designation (parts of Armley, Beeston & Holbeck, Burmantofts & Richmond Hill, Hunslet & Riverside, Gipton & Harehills, Farnley & Wortley wards)	until 8 February 2031	Council page
North East Lincolnshire	Selective	Parts: East Marsh ward, Grimsby	until 7 April 2031	Council page
North Yorkshire	Selective	Parts: Scarborough South (parts of Weaponness and Ramshill ward) and Scarborough Town (parts of Castle, Falsgrave, Stepney and Northstead wards)	in force	Council page
Rotherham	Selective	Parts: six areas (Town Centre/Eastwood/Clifton/Boston Castle; Masbrough/Kimberworth; Thurcroft; Dinnington; Brinsworth; Parkgate)	until 14 February 2031	Council page
York	Additional HMO	Parts: Clifton, Fishergate, Fulford and Heslington, Guildhall, Heworth, Hull Road, Micklegate, Osbaldwick and Derwent wards	until 31 March 2028	Council page

Questions

Which councils in England have selective licensing?

On 28 October 2026 we found 53 of England's 296 councils with a selective licensing scheme in force or about to start, and 51 with additional licensing for shared houses; 72 councils have one or both. Most selective schemes cover only some wards or streets, so check the council's map for your address. The full list, with each council's own page, is on this page.

Do I need a selective licence and to register on the landlord database?

Yes, if your property is in a licensing area. A council licence does not count as registration on the private rented sector database, and the draft regulations give no exemption or discount for licensed homes. You need both and pay both fees, and the registration service asks for the licence number.

How much does a selective licence cost?

Each council sets its own fee for the five-year licence, often several hundred pounds a property, usually paid in two parts. The landlord database is about £65 a property a year on top. Check the fee on the council's page linked from the table.

What happens when a selective licensing scheme ends?

A designation lasts up to five years. Before it ends the council usually consults on a renewal, and since December 2024 councils in England no longer need the government's approval for schemes of any size. If a scheme ends without renewal, licences under it end too, but the property still needs its database entry.

Sources

Each council's own licensing page, linked in its row above, read on 28 October 2026. The data is free to reuse: licensing.json.
Housing Act 2004, Part 3 (selective licensing) and Part 2 (additional HMO licensing)
gov.uk: selective licensing, a guide for local authorities
The draft landlord database regulations and their status

Not legal advice. Councils change schemes; check the council's page before you apply or register. Last checked 3 November 2026.