Your licensing update for October

In our licensing blog this month, we round up all the latest licensing consultations and outline how to respond to them, as well as full details of all the new schemes coming into force.   

Active consultations:   

Westminster City Council – Additional Licensing 

Westminster City Council has announced a consultation to renew its borough-wide additional licensing scheme. 

The proposed scheme would exclude section 257 HMOs and would replace the existing scheme which ends in August next year.

The proposed licence fee is £1,540, with discounts available for accreditation and positive EPC ratings. 

The consultation closes on the 12 November. The consultation documents and further information about the proposals can be found on the council’s website. 

Schemes coming into force: 

Westminster City Council  – Selective Licensing 

Westminster City Council has announced the implementation of a new selective licensing scheme for privately rented homes. 

The new scheme, set to cover 15 of its 18 wards, will apply to all privately rented properties, excluding HMOs that are already covered under existing mandatory and additional licensing schemes.  

The scheme will be rolled out over two ‘designations’ and will come into force on 24th November.   

• Designation 1 consists of eight wards experiencing high levels of poor housing conditions - Abbey Road, Church Street, Harrow Road, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, Little Venice, Maida Vale, Queen’s Park and Westbourne.  

• Designation 2 consists of seven wards experiencing both high levels of poor housing conditions and significant and persistent problems caused by anti-social behaviour - Bayswater, Hyde Park, Lancaster Gate, Marylebone, Pimlico North, Regent’s Park and West End.

For more information contact [email protected] 

The London Borough of Camden – Additional Licensing 

The council has confirmed a new additional licensing scheme which will cover the entire borough. The new scheme will come into force on 8  December and end on 8 December 2030.   

The licence fee starts at £1,383, with discounts available for accredited landlords.

More information about the scheme can be found on the council’s website and via their email address: [email protected] 

Wirral Council – Selective Licensing 

The council has confirmed a new selective licensing scheme will come into force 1 October. The designation will cover the following areas: 

• Birkenhead Central  

• Lower Tranmere   

• Tranmere North   

• Hamilton Square B  

• Tranmere Lairds   

• Egremont South 

The licence fee is set at £605, with discounts for accreditation, a good EPC rating of the property, with a multiple property discount also available.

More information about the scheme can be found on the council’s website and via their email address: [email protected] 

Southampton City Council – Additional Licensing 

The council has confirmed an additional licensing scheme which will cover part of the city will come into force on 1October and end 30 September 2030.  

The scheme will apply to:  

• Bevois  

• Bargate  

• Banister & Polygon   

• Portswood   

• Swaythling  

• Shirley   

• Bassett   

• Freemantle & Millbrook   
•  

The licence fee starts at £338, with a 50% discount available for buildings owned and managed by private providers of large student accommodation who are members of and comply with Accreditation Network UK (ANUK) National Code for large student developments – or any approved code or scheme of compliance.   

Further information about the scheme is available on the council’s website or by telephone on 023 8083 3006   

London Borough of Hounslow – Additional Licensing 

The council has confirmed that a borough wide additional licensing scheme will come into force 11 December and cease to have effect on 10 December 2030. 

The scheme will include:  

• All HMOs defined by section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 which are occupied by three or more persons in two or more households 

• Converted building HMOs, as defined by section 257 of the Housing Act, but only  where the building and all dwellings in the building are either in the same ownership or considered by the housing authority to be effectively in the same control. 

The licence fee is £1,550, with discounts available for accredited landlords.  

More information about the scheme can be found on the council’s website and via their email address: [email protected] or 0208 583 6166.

Oadby & Wigston Council – Selective Licensing 

The council has confirmed that a selective licensing scheme will come into force 10 November. The scheme will cover parts of Wigston and South Wigston in Leicestershire.

The licence fee is £850, with discounts available for accreditation, applying for multiple properties and licence holders who were licenced under the previous scheme. 

Further information about the scheme, which streets are covered and how to apply can be found on the council’s website and via their email address: [email protected] or via 0116 288 8961/0116 257 2637.