Landlord licensing in 2026: what is expanding and what it means for you

Landlord licensing is a council permission to let a property, and in 2026 it is expanding faster across England and Wales than at any point since the schemes began. A single deregulation in December 2024, the Selective Licensing General Approval 2024, removed the central-government approval that had capped how much of an area a council could license, and councils have moved quickly to designate new schemes. This article explains the three types of licensing, what the 2024 change did, the penalties for letting without a required licence, and how to check whether your property is now covered. It reflects the position as at June 2026.

The three types of landlord licensing

There are three licensing regimes, and most confusion comes from mixing them up. Mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere in England and Wales: any house in multiple occupation let to five or more people forming more than one household needs a licence, and this has applied since 2006 under mandatory HMO licensing. Additional HMO licensing is a discretionary scheme a council can designate to bring smaller HMOs, typically three or four sharers, into licensing in a defined area. Selective licensing is broader still: it requires a licence for every privately rented property in a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO, and is used to tackle issues such as poor housing conditions, anti-social behaviour or low demand. For the evergreen detail on how selective licensing works and whether you need a licence, see our selective licensing guide, and our overview of landlord licensing across England and Wales sets out how the three scheme types fit together.

What the December 2024 rule change did

The acceleration in 2026 traces to one statutory instrument. On 23 December 2024 the Government made the Selective Licensing General Approval 2024, which removed the requirement for councils to seek the Secretary of State’s approval before designating a selective licensing scheme covering more than 20% of their area or private rented stock. Before this, large schemes needed central sign-off, which was slow and often refused or cut back. Councils in England can now designate selective licensing of any size, up to a whole borough, on their own authority. They must still meet the statutory tests in Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 and consult for at least ten weeks, but the decision now sits locally. The Government’s own selective licensing guidance confirms the position.

Why councils designate schemes

A council can designate selective licensing only on evidence-based grounds set out in the Housing Act 2004: low housing demand, persistent anti-social behaviour, poor property conditions, high migration, high deprivation or high crime. Additional HMO licensing is typically introduced where shared housing is concentrated, such as university towns and urban centres, and many of these same areas operate an Article 4 direction, which controls HMO conversions through the planning system rather than through licensing. The two regimes overlap but are separate: an Article 4 direction governs whether you may create an HMO, while licensing governs whether you may let one.

The penalties for letting without a licence

Operating a property that needs a licence without one is a serious enforcement risk, and the penalties increased when the Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026. A council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 per offence as an alternative to criminal prosecution, which itself carries an unlimited fine. Operating without a required licence also blocks you from serving a Section 8 possession notice for the unlicensed period, and it can trigger a Rent Repayment Order of up to two years’ rent, which the Act doubled from the previous twelve-month maximum. The Act also made superior landlords jointly liable for licensing failures in rent-to-rent arrangements, closing a gap that previously shielded them. You can keep every licence, certificate and renewal date in one compliance checklist so an expired licence never quietly turns into an offence.

What schemes are expanding in 2026

The effect of the 2024 deregulation is visible across England and Wales, with new and extended schemes confirmed through 2026 in London boroughs including Hackney, Islington, Brent and Havering, and in major cities including Leeds, Reading, Manchester, Salford and Birmingham. Fees and boundaries vary widely, so any list dates quickly; rather than rely on a static table, model whether a property’s yield still works after new fees using our HMO calculator, and check whether a specific postcode sits inside a scheme with our property lookup tool, which links through to the relevant council’s licensing portal. From working with landlords across expanding licensing areas, the most common and most expensive mistake we see is assuming a scheme that did not exist last year still does not exist this year.

Wales: a national scheme plus local HMO licensing

Wales works differently. Under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, every landlord and letting agent must register with Rent Smart Wales and either be licensed or appoint a licensed agent, so there is a national baseline rather than purely discretionary local schemes. Welsh councils can still designate additional HMO licensing locally, and several have renewed schemes through 2026. The Welsh Government is also consulting on statutory licensing for visitor accommodation, which would reach landlords running short-term holiday lets.

Licence conditions you will need to meet

Most schemes impose similar core conditions whatever the council. You must show you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence, which considers unspent convictions, discrimination findings, housing-law breaches and management history. HMOs must also meet minimum room size standards, with a single-adult bedroom at least 6.51 square metres. You will need current safety documents, a valid gas safety certificate where there is a gas supply, an EICR and an EPC, and most schemes require fire-safety measures, periodic inspections with written records, waste-management provision and reasonable steps to address anti-social behaviour. Fees commonly run from around £700 outside London to £900 or more in the capital, are usually split into an application part and an issue part, and attract discounts for accredited landlords.

How licensing fits with the Renters’ Rights Act

Licensing now sits alongside the national Private Rented Sector Database introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act, which requires all landlords in England to register their properties. The database does not replace local licensing, but the Government has confirmed the two should complement each other, and the database makes it far easier for councils to spot unlicensed properties. In practice that means enforcement is becoming more data-led, so an unlicensed property is more likely to be identified than it was even a year ago.

How to check and manage your obligations

Start with your council’s private-housing pages, which usually offer a postcode lookup or interactive map of designated areas, and confirm whether your property is an HMO and which scheme type applies. Watch for schemes nearing expiry, since five-year designations from 2021 onwards are now being renewed, sometimes with changed fees or conditions, and a renewal is a fresh licence rather than an automatic continuation. For landlords with property across several authorities, the practical challenge is tracking different conditions and renewal dates at once; landlords using August set renewal reminders months ahead against each property so a deadline never passes unseen. Keep a single record per property holding the licence, its conditions, the issuing authority and the expiry date, with the supporting certificates attached.

The direction of travel is settled: licensing is expanding, enforcement is tightening, and the national database will make unlicensed letting harder to sustain. Holding accurate licensing records across a portfolio is now a core part of compliant letting, and you can start for free to keep those records in one place.

Disclaimer: This article is a guide and not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice, or as a substitute for it. August does not accept any liability for any errors, omissions or misstatements contained in this article. Always speak to a suitably qualified professional if you require specific advice or information.