CB4: letting and licensing

It does not yet. Awaab’s Law has bound social landlords since 27 October 2025, and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 gives the power to extend it to the private rented sector, but those regulations have not been made, so no Awaab’s Law deadline currently binds a private landlord in Cambridge City Council (Mill Road). What does bind you today is the repairing obligation in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the fitness-for-habitation duty, both enforceable by the tenant directly, plus the council’s HHSRS powers. For CB4 family lets the practical answer is to run your own written response SLA now: acknowledge a hazard report within 24 hours, investigate promptly, and keep a dated audit log of every step, because that log is what answers a disrepair claim, and it is what you will already need on the day the PRS regulations do arrive.

No. Cambridge City Council (Mill Road) runs no selective or additional licensing scheme in CB4, so the licence to check for is the national mandatory HMO licence: five or more people in two or more households sharing a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. CB4 includes Arbury, East and West Chesterton, King’s Hedges, Castle. The outward code also reaches South Cambridgeshire, which is a different licensing authority.

England-wide duties apply regardless of local licensing: Gas Safety (annual CP12), EICR every 5 years, EPC band E minimum (MEES), deposit protection within 30 days, Right to Rent checks before move-in, and smoke + CO alarm rules. Each carries its own fine or penalty, and a deposit left unprotected, or prescribed information never given, also stops a Section 8 possession order.

It is an offence. For an offence from 1 May 2026 the council can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 instead of prosecuting, and the tenant can apply for a Rent Repayment Order of up to two years' rent. Keep certificates, licences and tenant documents in one place and renew before they expire.

The fee is set by Cambridge City Council (Mill Road) for each scheme it runs, and it is usually split into an amount payable with the application and a second amount payable before the licence is granted. Some councils discount an early renewal or an accredited landlord. Where we have the current figure it is printed on the council page above; otherwise take it from the council's own fees page, because fees change between designations.

If the council area is subject to an Article 4 Direction for C3 to C4 use, you need full planning permission to let to 3 or more unrelated sharers. Cambridge City Council (Mill Road) publishes its Article 4 map. Large HMOs (sui generis, 7+ sharers) always need planning permission.

No. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026 across England, including Cambridge, and every assured shorthold tenancy became an assured periodic tenancy, so possession now runs on a Section 8 ground. The deposit still matters: section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, as substituted by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, blocks a possession order while a deposit is unprotected or the prescribed information has not been given, on every ground except 7A and 14. A missing gas record or EPC does not bar a Section 8 claim, though it is an offence in its own right and a tenant can raise it in defence of a disrepair or possession case.

Specialist landlord buildings insurance with landlord liability (often £2m+), optional contents for furnished items, loss of rent and legal expenses. For HMOs, check the insurer explicitly covers HMO use and the number of occupants - standard buy-to-let policies often exclude HMOs.

CB4 is in the East of England region. Registration becomes required there on 15 January 2027, and the deadline is 14 April 2027. Any property can be registered earlier, from 15 December 2026. The fee is £65 a year for each property, and the date follows where the property is, not where the landlord lives. While a let that should be registered is not, a court cannot make a possession order for it, except on the antisocial behaviour grounds.