Free tool
Landlord licensing checker
Enter a postcode and see which licensing schemes our records indicate apply — selective, additional HMO and the national mandatory rules — with dates, fees and the council source.
Licensing is one deadline among many. HouseFile tracks your licence expiry alongside every other compliance date, per property.
HouseFile keeps every document in one place, tracks expiry dates, and creates timestamped evidence tenants actually received them.
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Three licensing regimes, one address
Landlord licensing in England and Wales is three systems stacked on top of each other. Mandatory HMO licensing is national: 5 or more occupants forming 2 or more households, sharing facilities. Additional HMO licensing is a council-by-council extension to smaller shared homes. Selective licensing covers every privately rented home in a designated area, single lets included. The first depends on who lives in the property; the other two depend on where it is — which is why an address checker can answer them, and why the same landlord can need three different licences for three properties in the same city.
Designations change constantly: schemes run for up to five years, renewals redraw boundaries, and new consultations open every month. Our records carry the designation dates, fees and source documents for each scheme we’ve verified, and every result links to the council’s own page. For what a licence actually requires once you hold one, see our guides to HMO compliance and selective licensing.
Common questions
What is selective licensing?
A scheme where a council requires every privately rented home in a designated area to be licensed — regardless of size or occupancy. Councils designate areas for up to five years at a time, and letting an unlicensed property in one can mean a civil penalty of up to £30,000 and a rent repayment order.
What is additional HMO licensing?
An extension of HMO licensing beyond the national mandatory scheme. Where designated, it typically covers smaller HMOs — for example three or four sharers — that the national 5-person threshold does not reach. Coverage can be borough-wide or limited to specific wards.
How do I know if my property needs a licence?
Three tests, in order: mandatory HMO licensing applies nationally if 5 or more people forming 2 or more households share facilities; additional HMO licensing applies if your council has designated it and the property is an HMO within the designation; selective licensing applies to any privately rented home inside a designated area. This checker tells you what our records indicate for the address — always confirm with the council, because schemes change during the year.
What happens if I let without a required licence?
Operating an unlicensed licensable property is an offence: councils can prosecute (unlimited fine) or issue civil penalties up to £30,000, tenants and councils can claim back up to 12 months’ rent through a rent repayment order, and you cannot serve a valid possession notice while unlicensed.
Why does the result say “our records indicate”?
Because councils designate, renew and revoke schemes throughout the year, and scheme areas have precise boundaries a postcode-level lookup can only approximate. Every result shows when we last verified the scheme and links to the council’s own page — the authoritative source.