Selective licensing · Durham County Council
The County Council of Durham Designations of Areas for Selective Licensing 2021 (four designations covering 103 areas; council page name: Selective licensing of privately rented properties)
- Status
- In force
- Runs
- 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027
- Designated
- 16 September 2020
- Fee
- £585 per property, paid in two parts: £200 when you apply and £385 when the draft licence is issued. If you already held a selective licence in County Durham on 1 April 2025 and apply, with all the documents, within 12 weeks of another property becoming licensable, that property costs £435 (£165 and £270). Every licence ends on 31 March 2027, when the scheme does.
- Applies to
- Every privately rented home in the 103 designated areas across County Durham, about 42% of the county's privately rented homes, including smaller shared houses of three or four people. The council publishes a postcode list, but it misses some homes inside the areas, so a postcode that isn't on it may still be covered. Exempt: HMOs that need a mandatory licence, council and housing association lets, holiday lets, homes let to a family member, long leases, business tenancies, and homes with a temporary exemption notice.
Our records last verified 18 October 2026 · council designation page · licence conditions
Area covered
The designation covers a defined area of Durham County Council. Check your exact address with the checker below and against the map on the council’s designation page, because scheme boundaries are drawn street by street.
Durham County 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
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