Landlord Licensing Starting or Ending in England, November 2026 to April 2027

Six landlord licensing schemes start in five English councils between 23 November 2026 and 6 January 2027. Islington’s selective licensing reaches seven more wards on 23 November, Salford starts licensing every section 257 converted block of flats on 24 November, East Staffordshire starts selective licensing in 16 named streets on 1 January 2027, Medway starts selective licensing in seven wards and additional HMO licensing in six on 4 January, and Harrow’s new additional HMO scheme comes into effect on 6 January.

In the same months, schemes in ten more councils reach the end date written into them, from Lambeth on 8 December 2026 to Manchester and North Yorkshire on 30 April 2027. Four of those councils have a decision still to come on what follows, set out after the tables.

Every date here was read on 25 October 2026 on the council’s own page or its notice of designation, linked beside it or listed under the article. The list covers the councils checked that day, not every council in England. It is England only: Wales and Scotland run their own registration and licensing systems. Fees stay on the council fee pages linked from each entry.

Schemes starting, November 2026 to January 2027

Islington, 23 November 2026

The council made the designation on 21 August 2026. It comes into force at 12.00am on 23 November 2026 and ceases at 11.59pm on 22 November 2031, in Barnsbury, Caledonian, Highbury, Junction, Laycock, Mildmay and Tufnell Park.

It covers a privately rented home let to a single person, to two people sharing whatever their relationship, or to one household of any size. HMOs, owner-occupied homes and social housing are outside it. Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington already have selective licensing under a 2024 designation, which carries on.

The council’s licensing page sets the deadline in one line: "If your property is in one of these wards, you must apply by 23 November 2026." The wards and the borough’s other schemes are on Islington licensing.

Salford, 24 November 2026

From 24 November 2026 Salford licenses every section 257 HMO in the city, for five years, and the council says all licences under the scheme end on 24 November 2031.

A section 257 HMO is a building converted into self-contained flats where the conversion work did not meet, and still does not meet, the building standards that applied to it, and less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied (Housing Act 2004, s.257). For work finished before 1 June 1992 the standard is the 1991 Building Regulations as they stood on that day.

Salford’s fee table has lower rows for an accredited landlord and property accredited before 24 November 2026, and for an application made before that day or within three months of buying. The amounts are on Salford licence fees, and the two selective areas, which do not change, are on Salford licensing.

East Staffordshire, 1 January 2027

The council’s Cabinet approved the scheme on 14 September 2026, and the designation was made on 22 September 2026. It comes into force on 1 January 2027 and ceases to have effect on 31 December 2031, a five-year term, in 16 streets: Anglesey Road, Belvedere Road, Byrkley Street, Calais Road, Derby Street, Edward Street, High Street, Horninglow Road, Horninglow Road North, Oak Street, Princess Street, Shobnall Road, Thornley Street, Victoria Crescent, Wetmore Road and Wyggeston Street.

It covers any house in those streets let or occupied under a tenancy or licence. An HMO that needs a mandatory licence, social housing and the other exemptions the notice lists are outside it. The council’s page asks landlords to wait: "Please do not submit an application until the Council confirms that the application process is open." The council’s 2022 scheme, in nine other streets, runs to 11 September 2027.

Medway, 4 January 2027

Two schemes start on Monday 4 January 2027 and run to 3 January 2032.

• Selective licensing covers a home rented to a single household or to two unrelated people sharing, in Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, and Watling.
• Additional HMO licensing covers a home rented to three or four people from more than one household who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, in the same wards less Strood North and Frindsbury, where the home is not already a large HMO under the mandatory scheme.

Medway takes no applications before 4 January 2027. Its page says so plainly: "You cannot apply before this date." The fees for both schemes, and for the mandatory licence that already applies, are on Medway licence fees.

Harrow, 6 January 2027

Harrow’s previous additional HMO scheme ended on 5 August 2026. The council says a new one "is scheduled to come into effect on 6 January 2027", for properties occupied by three or four people forming two or more households who share facilities.

Unlike Medway, Harrow takes applications before the start date. Its HMO page gives neither the area the new scheme covers nor its end date, so check the address with the council. The borough’s selective licensing is on Harrow licensing.

What the start day means for a landlord

From the day a designation comes into force, every property it covers needs a licence. Letting one without a licence is an offence (Housing Act 2004, s.72 for an HMO, s.95 for a selective licence). The council can prosecute, and a court then sets the fine, or it can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 instead (s.249A, the cap for conduct from 1 May 2026). Which smaller HMOs an additional scheme reaches is set out in additional HMO licensing in England.

Two rules decide what to do before the day:

1. 1An application already made is a defence. If an application was duly made and is still effective, that is a defence to the offence (s.72(4) for an HMO licence, s.95(3) for a selective licence). It stays effective while it is not withdrawn and the council has not decided it, and after a refusal while the time to appeal runs or an appeal is open.
2. 2A licence can be granted early. A council may grant a licence before the scheme needs it, but the licence cannot come into force before the scheme does (s.68(2) and s.91(2)).

Islington asks for applications by 23 November 2026, and Harrow takes them now. Medway and East Staffordshire are the exceptions. Medway takes none before 4 January 2027, so the earliest an application can go in there is the day the schemes start, and East Staffordshire asks landlords to wait until it says applications are open. Applying on the first day the council allows keeps the gap as short as it can be.

Schemes ending, December 2026 to April 2027

A designation lasts five years at most (s.60(2) for additional licensing, s.84(2) for selective licensing), and nothing renews it by itself. To carry on, a council has to make a new one. Each council name in the table links to the notice or page its date was read on.

Each council’s other schemes, wards and fees are on its page here: Lambeth, Southwark, Doncaster fees, Liverpool, Ealing, Lewisham, Bristol and Manchester.

What happens to a licence when its scheme ends

A licence comes into force at the time written in it and runs for the period written in it, up to five years. That period carries on even if the property stops being one that needs a licence (Housing Act 2004, s.68(3)(b), (4) and (5) for an HMO licence, s.91(3)(b), (4) and (5) for a selective one). So an existing licence lasts to the end date written on it, with its conditions. Some councils set that date to the scheme’s last day: County Durham’s page says "The licence lasts until 31 March 2027", the day its scheme expires, and Salford says every licence under its new section 257 scheme ends on 24 November 2031. Read the date on the licence, not the scheme.

When a scheme ends and no new designation follows, a property it covered needs no new licence under it. A large HMO, five or more people forming two or more households, still needs a mandatory licence in every council.

Bristol’s three wards

The council has already said where an additional licence in Bedminster, Brislington West or Horfield goes next. Its types of licence page, read on 25 October 2026, says a holder of an additional licence anywhere in the city "which has expired or expires before 6th August 2029" will be "required to apply to renew your licence under the citywide additional licensing scheme" when the licence expires. The citywide scheme runs to 5 August 2029. Its designation leaves out an HMO that needs a licence under another additional scheme still in force, which is why the three wards sit outside it until 5 April 2027.

Selective licensing in Bedminster and Brislington West ends the same day, and the same page names no selective scheme to follow it.

Manchester’s 2022 areas

The four areas are Ben Street in Clayton and Openshaw, Hyde Road and The Ladders in Gorton and Abbey Hey, and Trinity in Harpurhey. Each page says the designation came into force on 1 May 2022 and ends on 30 April 2027. Manchester’s other selective areas end on 8 August 2028 (designated in 2023) and 23 May 2030 (designated in 2025).

Decisions still to come

None of these is in force or decided:

• Greenwich: selective licensing in 18 wards, 17 whole wards and part of Woolwich Arsenal. The consultation closed on 12 October 2026, and the council says a final report goes to Cabinet towards the end of 2026. The scheme in force today is on Greenwich licensing.
• Liverpool: the council consulted from 27 July to 5 October 2026 on three options for a future scheme: all 64 wards, 29 wards or 26 wards (Liverpool Express, the council’s news site, 27 July 2026). Its consultation page no longer loads, and its licensing pages show no decision.
• County Durham: on 28 April 2026 the council said its Cabinet would be asked on 6 May to agree a 10-week consultation on continuing the scheme beyond 31 March 2027, and that councillors would decide later in 2026. Its selective licensing page shows no outcome yet.
• Ealing: consulted on additional HMO licensing from 15 July to 24 September 2026, before its borough-wide scheme ends on 31 March 2027.
• North Yorkshire: the council proposes to renew Scarborough South for five years from 1 May 2027 and extend it to all of Valley Road and Esplanade Gardens. The consultation ran from 3 August to 12 October 2026, and the results go to councillors later in 2026.

For Lambeth, Southwark, Doncaster, Lewisham and Manchester, and for Bristol’s selective wards, the council pages read on 25 October 2026 name no new scheme to follow. A council can also revoke a designation early after a review (s.60(4) and s.84(4)), and a start date can move, so read the council’s page again before you act on any date here.

Keeping each licence date

A council’s date matters only for the properties it touches, and a portfolio spread across councils carries several sets of dates. Licensing across different councils sets out how far the rules and fees differ, and the selective licensing guide covers how a scheme works. To see which schemes apply at an address today, use the property licensing lookup.

Hold every licence on its property. LetCompliance runs the let from the advert to the tax return, and keeps each licence beside the tenancy and the rent: the type, the reference, the council and the expiry date, with email reminders 90, 30 and 7 days before it expires and once if it lapses. The licence dates sit in the calendar feed with the certificate dates and the rent days.