Selective licensing · Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council's Designation of an Area for Selective Licensing 2023 (council page name: Selective licensing)
- Status
- In force
- Runs
- 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028
- Designated
- 1 March 2022
- Fee
- £700 per property: £375 when you apply and £325 when the council decides to grant your draft licence. There's no discount for landlords with several properties, so ten properties need ten licences. A licence lasts up to five years.
- Applies to
- Every privately rented home in the 25 named wards. Exempt: HMOs that need a mandatory or additional HMO licence, homes let by a housing association or other registered social landlord, homes managed directly by a university or college, homes under a management order or with a temporary exemption, and the kinds of letting exempt nationally. An empty property doesn't need a licence.
Our records last verified 18 October 2026 · council designation page · licence conditions
Area covered
The designation covers these wards, as they were drawn when the scheme was made:
- Acocks Green
- Alum Rock
- Aston
- Balsall Heath West
- Birchfield
- Bordesley & Highgate
- Bordesley Green
- Bournbrook & Selly Park
- Edgbaston
- Gravelly Hill
- Handsworth
- Heartlands
- Holyhead
- Ladywood
- Lozells
- North Edgbaston
- Small Heath
- Soho & Jewellery Quarter
- South Yardley
- Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East
- Sparkhill
- Stockland Green
- Tyseley & Hay Mills
- Ward End
- Yardley West & Stechford
Birmingham City Council also runs its own address-level lookup: check whether a specific address falls inside the scheme.
What this means for landlords
Selective licensing applies to privately rented homes of any size in the designated area, including single lets. Letting an unlicensed property inside the area can mean a civil penalty of up to £40,000 and a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent.
Is your property inside the scheme area?
This checker reflects HouseFile’s records of council licensing designations, not the councils’ live registers. Our records indicate the position at the verification date shown on each result. Schemes are designated, renewed and revoked throughout the year, and postcode-level lookups are approximate near scheme boundaries. Always confirm with the council before letting or buying a property, using the source link on each card. This is general information, not legal advice.
If you hold a licence here, HouseFile can track its renewal date
14 days free · no card needed