Selective licensing
A council scheme requiring a licence for privately rented homes in a designated area, including homes let to a single household.
In short: Selective licensing, under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, lets a council require every privately rented home in a designated area to be licensed, not only HMOs. Councils use it for problems such as poor property conditions or anti-social behaviour. Schemes usually last up to five years.
英格兰。 于 5 October 2026 对照法律进行核查. 信息，非法律建议。
If a home is in a selective licensing area:
- the landlord applies to the council, pays the fee and must be a fit and proper person;
- the licence has conditions, such as safety certificates, references and managing anti-social behaviour;
- letting without one is an offence, with a civil penalty or prosecution, and tenants can apply for a rent repayment order.
Check the council's website for "selective licensing" and the scheme's map. A landlord's licence details will also be part of their entry on the Private Rented Sector Database.
Read more: The landlord database, the ombudsman, and licensing: checks you can make
Related: Additional licensing, PRS Database
来源
Guides on this
Guide
Do I need a licence to let my property? HMO, additional and selective licensing
Five or more people from two or more households need a mandatory HMO licence. Your council may also license smaller HMOs, or every let in an area. How to check, and what happens without one.
Guide
The landlord database and ombudsman: when you must register
The Private Rented Sector Database opens region by region from 15 December 2026, and the landlord ombudsman follows. Every landlord in England will need an entry for each property before letting or advertising it.
Related terms
Glossary
Additional licensing
A council scheme that requires licences for smaller HMOs, below the mandatory threshold, in a designated area.
Glossary
Civil penalty
A fine a council can impose on a landlord or agent instead of prosecuting, for breaches of housing law such as letting an unlicensed HMO or ignoring an improvement notice.
Glossary
House in multiple occupation (HMO)
A home let to three or more people who form more than one household and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. HMOs have extra safety rules and often need a licence.
Glossary
Mandatory HMO licensing
The national rule that any HMO occupied by five or more people forming two or more households needs a licence from the council.
Glossary
Private Rented Sector Database (PRS Database)
The national register every private landlord in England, and each home they let, must join. It opens by region from 15 December 2026; all by 14 November 2027.
Glossary
Rent repayment order (RRO)
An order of the First-tier Tribunal that a landlord repay rent to a tenant, or benefits to the council, because the landlord committed certain housing offences.