Bristol City Council (Easton & Stapleton Road): landlord licensing 2026

• Mandatory HMO (new)

  £1,8865-year licence

  Two payments, £1,121 with the application and £765 on grant. A landlord accredited under the West of England Rent with Confidence scheme takes £150 off, and another £150 comes back if the gas record, EICR and EPC reach the council before the licence is issued.

  The council’s fee page

• Mandatory HMO (renewal)

  £1,5645-year licence

  Two payments, £929 with the application and £635 on grant.

  The council’s fee page

• Additional HMO (citywide)

  £1,8615-year licence

  The citywide scheme has run since 6 August 2024, so a smaller HMO of three or more people in two or more households needs a licence too. Paid £1,023 on application and £838 on grant, with a renewal at £1,470. The older Bedminster, Brislington West and Horfield scheme, live since 6 April 2022, charges £1,300.

  The council’s fee page

• Selective licensing

  £9125-year licence

  Bishopston and Ashley Down, Cotham and Easton, since 6 August 2024: £467 on application and £445 on grant. The Bedminster and Brislington West scheme, live since 6 April 2022, charges £799. Selective licensing covers ordinary lets, so a home let to one or two people or to one family needs a licence in these wards.

  The council’s fee page

The Bristol licence fees page explains which licence a property needs and how each fee is paid.

Bristol’s selective licensing, in schemes in force since 6 April 2022 and 6 August 2024, names five wards. Three of the wards this guide’s postcodes touch are among them: Bishopston and Ashley Down, Easton and Cotham. The council’s list

• BS5Easton, Stapleton Road

  Wards it touches: Easton, Eastville, Lawrence Hill, Lockleaze, St George Central, St George Troopers Hill and St George West.

  Named in the selective designation: Easton.

• BS2Easton, St Pauls, Montpelier

  Wards it touches: Ashley, Central, Cotham, Lawrence Hill and Lockleaze.

  Named in the selective designation: Cotham.

• BS1Bristol city centre

  Wards it touches: Ashley, Central, Cotham, Hotwells and Harbourside and Lawrence Hill.

  Named in the selective designation: Cotham.

• BS7Bishopston, Gloucester Road

  Wards it touches: Ashley, Bishopston and Ashley Down, Filton, Horfield, Lockleaze, Redland and Stoke Park & Cheswick.

  Named in the selective designation: Bishopston and Ashley Down.

  Part of BS7 lies in South Gloucestershire, where Bristol’s schemes do not apply.

Average rent

£1,883per month, all sizes

1-bed / 2-bed

£1,225 · £1,544per month

3-bed

£1,759per month

Change in a year

+5.9%to August 2026

For Bristol as a whole, the average private rent of £1,883 a month is £638 more than the South West average of £1,245, and the 2nd highest of the 26 councils in the South West that ONS publishes. Over the year to August 2026 it rose 5.9%, against a rise of 4.4% across the South West.

Every council in England is on the UK rent statistics page, with the national and regional averages.

Section 21 claims

34accelerated possession claims, April to June 2026, down 43% on a year earlier (60)

Rent repayment orders

10made in 12 published decisions since January 2025, £45,580 ordered in all

Rent challenges

4rent increases decided by the tribunal since January 2025, 0 of them since 1 May 2026

Sources: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (released 16 September 2026); Ministry of Justice possession statistics, April to June 2026, by the council of the defendant’s address; residential property tribunal decisions published on GOV.UK, by the council in the case reference. How each was counted: Section 21 claims, rent repayment orders, rent challenges and rents by council.

1. Opens to everyone

   15 December 2026

   Any property can be registered early, wherever it is.

2. Required in South West

   15 August 2027

   The three-month window to register starts.

3. Deadline

   14 November 2027

   After this date the council can take enforcement action.

The fee is £65 a year for each property, pro-rated during the rollout. Miss the deadline and the council can impose a penalty of up to £7,000. While a let that should be registered is not, a court cannot make a possession order for it, except on the antisocial behaviour Grounds 7A and 14 (Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 90). Dates from the GOV.UK Housing Hub, checked 23 September 2026.

1. 01

   Check the address on the council’s own licensing pages

   It is the only source that is definitive for this borough, and it is the one the council will hold you to.

   Bristol City Council (Easton & Stapleton Road) licensing
2. 02

   Check the property against the national thresholds

   Mandatory HMO licensing is national, not local: five or more occupants forming two or more households need a licence wherever the property is, with no local scheme required.

   Free postcode licensing checker
3. 03

   Get the evidence together before you apply

   Most applications ask for the same documents you already owe the tenant: the gas safety record, the EICR, the EPC, and the fire detection and escape arrangements for an HMO. The council’s list is the one that counts, but nothing on it will be a surprise if those are current.

Each row links to the full duty: what it obliges you to do, what happens when it is missed and the practical way to stay on top of it. Read the national guide.

Civil penalty

Up to £40,000Imposed by the council itself, without a prosecution. Serious or repeated breaches sit at the top of the range.

Rent Repayment Order

Up to 2 years’ rentThe tenant, or the council, applies to the First-tier Tribunal to have rent paid back. It is separate from the penalty above, not instead of it.

Prosecution

Unlimited fineLetting an unlicensed HMO, or breaching a licence condition, is a criminal offence and can be prosecuted rather than penalised.

Reviewed by Erdem Volkan, last checked 15 October 2026. General information about the rules in this area, not advice on a specific property or dispute.