Property licensing map: West Midlands and East of England

Which councils run additional HMO licensing or selective licensing, where, and until when. All 75 councils in the two regions, checked against each council's own website on 2 October 2026. 13 of them had at least one scheme in force.

The two regions are the first to register on the PRS database: the West Midlands by 14 March 2027 and the East of England by 14 April 2027, and registration asks for each property's licence details. To check one address, use the property licensing checker.

At a glance

Councils by licensing status, 2 October 2026
Region	Councils	Additional and selective	Additional HMO only	Selective only	Mandatory HMO only	Not confirmed
West Midlands	30	1	5	1	22	1
East of England	45	3	1	2	36	3

Map summary

One tile per council, grouped by county area. It is a diagram, not to scale. A means additional HMO licensing, S selective licensing, and ? a council whose website blocked our checks.

Additional and selective
Additional HMO only
Selective only
Mandatory HMO only
Not confirmed

Every council, scheme and date

"Mandatory HMO only" means we found no additional or selective scheme on the council's website. Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere in England. Council names link to our page on that council's scheme.

West Midlands: licensing schemes by council, checked 2 October 2026
Council	Status	Additional HMO licensing	Selective licensing	Official page and notes
Birmingham West Midlands metropolitan area	Additional and selective	Whole council area: 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028	Selected wards: 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028	Council page
Bromsgrove Worcestershire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Cannock Chase Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Coventry West Midlands metropolitan area	Additional HMO only	Whole council area: 4 May 2025 to 3 May 2030	None found	Council page
Dudley West Midlands metropolitan area	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
East Staffordshire Staffordshire	Selective only	None found	Selected streets: 12 September 2022 to 11 September 2027 Selected streets: 1 January 2027 (end date not stated) (approved, not yet started)	Council page
Herefordshire Herefordshire, Shropshire and Stoke	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Lichfield Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Malvern Hills Worcestershire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
North Warwickshire Warwickshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Nuneaton and Bedworth Warwickshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Redditch Worcestershire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Rugby Warwickshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Sandwell West Midlands metropolitan area	Additional HMO only	Whole council area: 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2029	None found	Council page
Shropshire Herefordshire, Shropshire and Stoke	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Solihull West Midlands metropolitan area	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
South Staffordshire Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council's HMO page says HMOs with 3 or 4 tenants do not need a licence.
Stafford Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Staffordshire Moorlands Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Stoke-on-Trent Herefordshire, Shropshire and Stoke	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Stratford-on-Avon Warwickshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Tamworth Staffordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council consulted from May to August 2026 on additional licensing for HMOs with 3 or 4 occupants. It was a proposal, not a scheme in force, when we checked.
Telford and Wrekin Herefordshire, Shropshire and Stoke	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page An additional licensing scheme for smaller HMOs was revoked by an instrument dated 11 September 2026. The council's HMO page now says a licence is needed for 5 or more occupants forming 2 or more households.
Walsall West Midlands metropolitan area	Additional HMO only	Selected wards: 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2027	None found	Council page
Warwick Warwickshire	Additional HMO only	Whole council area: 18 January 2024 to 17 January 2029	None found	Council page
Wolverhampton West Midlands metropolitan area	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council's HMO page says HMOs with 3 or 4 tenants do not need a licence.
Worcester Worcestershire	Additional HMO only	Whole council area: 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2030	None found	Council page
Wychavon Worcestershire	Not confirmed	None found	None found	Council page The council's website blocks automated checks, so we could not read this page directly.
Wyre Forest Worcestershire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page

East of England: licensing schemes by council, checked 2 October 2026
Council	Status	Additional HMO licensing	Selective licensing	Official page and notes
Babergh Suffolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Basildon Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council's Cabinet has approved work on the evidence for a possible selective licensing scheme. No scheme was in force when we checked.
Bedford Bedfordshire	Additional HMO only	Whole council area: 21 May 2023 to 20 May 2028	None found	Council page
Braintree Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Breckland Norfolk	Not confirmed	None found	None found	Council page The council's website blocks automated checks, so we could not read this page directly.
Brentwood Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Broadland Norfolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Broxbourne Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Cambridge Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Castle Point Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Central Bedfordshire Bedfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Chelmsford Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council's page says: "We do not have Additional or Selective licensing schemes in place."
Colchester Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Dacorum Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
East Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
East Hertfordshire Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
East Suffolk Suffolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Epping Forest Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Fenland Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Not confirmed	None found	None found	Council page The council's website blocks automated checks, so we could not read this page directly.
Great Yarmouth Norfolk	Selective only	None found	Selected wards: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031	Council page
Harlow Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Hertsmere Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Huntingdonshire Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Ipswich Suffolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
King's Lynn and West Norfolk Norfolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Luton Bedfordshire	Additional and selective	Whole council area: 1 June 2026 to 4 February 2029	Part of the area: 1 June 2026 to 4 February 2029	Council page
Maldon Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page The council's page says an HMO with 3 or 4 unrelated people is not licensable.
Mid Suffolk Suffolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
North Hertfordshire Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
North Norfolk Norfolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Norwich Norfolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Peterborough Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Additional and selective	Whole council area: 26 January 2026 to 25 January 2031	Part of the area: 11 March 2024 to 10 March 2029	Council page
Rochford Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
South Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire and Peterborough	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
South Norfolk Norfolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Southend-on-Sea Essex	Selective only	None found	Part of the area: 1 December 2021 (end date not stated)	Council page
St Albans Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Stevenage Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Tendring Essex	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Three Rivers Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page A council committee reviewed additional licensing in January 2026. No scheme was in force when we checked.
Thurrock Essex	Additional and selective	Whole council area: 7 September 2025 (end date not stated)	Selected wards: 5 January 2026 to 4 January 2031	Council page
Uttlesford Essex	Not confirmed	None found	None found	Council page The council's website blocks automated checks, so we could not read this page directly.
Watford Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
Welwyn Hatfield Hertfordshire	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page
West Suffolk Suffolk	Mandatory HMO only	None found	None found	Council page

Schemes ending in the next 12 months

A designation lasts up to 5 years [4][5]. A council may consult on a new scheme before one ends, so check its page for what comes next.

31 August 2027: Walsall, additional hmo licensing (selected wards)
11 September 2027: East Staffordshire, selective licensing (selected streets); the council has approved another selective scheme from 1 January 2027

Approved but not yet started

East Staffordshire: selective licensing, from 1 January 2027 (selected streets)

The three kinds of licence

Mandatory HMO licence, everywhere in England: a property rented to 5 or more people who form more than 1 household, where some or all share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, and at least 1 tenant pays rent [1].
Additional HMO licensing: a council can designate an area where other HMOs must be licensed too [4].
Selective licensing: a council can designate an area where privately rented homes that aren't HMOs must be licensed [2][5].

More detail: HMO and selective licensing explained.

Sources and methodology

Which councils. Licensing is run by the local housing authority [4][5]. In two-tier areas that is the district, borough or city council, not the county council [6]. We cover all 30 such councils in the West Midlands and all 45 in the East of England.
Where the facts come from. Each council's own licensing pages, read on 2 October 2026. We record the scheme type, the area it covers and its start and end dates, and link to the page we used.
Status. A scheme counts as in force if it had started, and not passed its end date, on 2 October 2026. Approved schemes that start later are listed separately. "Not confirmed" means the council's website blocked our checks, so we could not read its page directly.
The map summary is a tile diagram grouped by county area. It uses no boundary data, and a tile does not show which wards or streets a scheme covers. Use the council's own map or address checker for that.
Reuse. Information on a council's website is not automatically covered by the Open Government Licence [7], so we don't copy council maps, documents or wording. We restate the facts and link to the source. You're welcome to link to this page. GOV.UK material is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Corrections. Councils change schemes, and this page can lag behind. If you spot a change, email [email protected] with a link to the council's page. See our editorial policy.

Sources

GOV.UK: House in multiple occupation licence
GOV.UK: Selective licensing in the private rented sector: a guide for local authorities
GOV.UK: Licensing of houses in multiple occupation in England: a guide for landlords and managers
Housing Act 2004, Part 2 (HMO licensing, including section 56 additional licensing and section 60 duration)
Housing Act 2004, Part 3 (selective licensing, including sections 80 and 84)
Housing Act 2004, section 261 (meaning of "local housing authority")
GOV.UK: Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 and Crown copyright and The National Archives: Open Government Licence v3.0
Each council's licensing page, linked in the tables above.

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General information, not legal or tax advice. Checked against GOV.UK on 2 October 2026. Rules change — always confirm on GOV.UK.