Local guides
Landlord rules where your property is.
National law is only half the story - licensing schemes are decided council by council, and they change with little fanfare. Pick your area.
Not sure what applies everywhere first? See the 9 statutory duties Kept tracks →
Council registerLocal licensing guides · England
- Councils
- 317
- Guides published
- 158
- Regions
- 9
Councils with a guide50%
Official sources only
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Featured guides
North West
Liverpool
If you let property in Liverpool, assume you need a licence until you've proven otherwise.
Read the local guideYorkshire
Leeds
Leeds takes a targeted approach: selective licensing applies in designated neighbourhoods rather than citywide - parts of areas such as Harehills and Beeston have been designated in recent schemes.
Read the local guideSouth West
Cornwall
Good news first: Cornwall currently operates no selective licensing scheme, so an ordinary single-family let doesn't need a council licence here.
Read the local guideNorth West
Manchester
Manchester runs selective licensing in specific designated areas of the city - not citywide - so whether your ordinary let needs a council licence comes down to which streets it sits on.
Read the local guideWest Midlands
Birmingham
Birmingham changed the rules for thousands of landlords on 5 June 2023.
Read the local guideEast Midlands
Nottingham
Nottingham is one of the most heavily licensed cities in England, and it runs three schemes at once.
Read the local guideCouncil directory
Every council in England, by region.
We're publishing a guide for all 317 councils. Kept covers properties in England only for now, with Wales coming soon. Open a region, or filter by name. Want yours prioritised? Tell us.
North East12 councils · 7 guides
North West36 councils · 13 guides
- Blackburn with Darwen(guide published)
- Blackpool(guide published)
- Bolton(guide published)
- Burnley(guide published)
- Bury(guide published)
- Cheshire East(guide published)
- Cheshire West and Chester(guide published)
- Chorley(guide published)
- Cumberland(guide published)
- Fylde(guide published)
- Halton(guide published)
- Hyndburn
- Knowsley
- Lancashire
- Lancaster
- Liverpool(guide published)
- Manchester(guide published)
- Oldham
- Pendle
- Preston
- Ribble Valley
- Rochdale
- Rossendale
- Salford
- Sefton
- South Ribble
- St Helens
- Stockport
- Tameside
- Trafford
- Warrington
- West Lancashire
- Westmorland and Furness
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wyre
Yorkshire and The Humber15 councils · 9 guides
- Barnsley(guide published)
- Bradford(guide published)
- Calderdale(guide published)
- City of York(guide published)
- Doncaster(guide published)
- East Riding of Yorkshire(guide published)
- Hull(guide published)
- Kirklees
- Leeds(guide published)
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- North Yorkshire
- Rotherham
- Sheffield(guide published)
- Wakefield
East Midlands39 councils · 20 guides
- Amber Valley(guide published)
- Ashfield(guide published)
- Bassetlaw(guide published)
- Blaby(guide published)
- Bolsover(guide published)
- Boston(guide published)
- Broxtowe(guide published)
- Charnwood(guide published)
- Chesterfield(guide published)
- Derby(guide published)
- Derbyshire(guide published)
- Derbyshire Dales(guide published)
- East Lindsey(guide published)
- Erewash(guide published)
- Gedling(guide published)
- Harborough(guide published)
- High Peak(guide published)
- Hinckley and Bosworth(guide published)
- Leicester(guide published)
- Leicestershire
- Lincoln
- Lincolnshire
- Mansfield
- Melton
- Newark & Sherwood
- North East Derbyshire
- North Kesteven
- North Northamptonshire
- North West Leicestershire
- Nottingham(guide published)
- Nottinghamshire
- Oadby & Wigston
- Rushcliffe
- Rutland
- South Derbyshire
- South Holland
- South Kesteven
- West Lindsey
- West Northamptonshire
West Midlands33 councils · 10 guides
- Birmingham(guide published)
- Bromsgrove(guide published)
- Cannock Chase(guide published)
- Coventry(guide published)
- Dudley(guide published)
- East Staffordshire(guide published)
- Herefordshire(guide published)
- Lichfield
- Malvern Hills
- Newcastle-Under-Lyme
- North Warwickshire
- Nuneaton & Bedworth
- Redditch
- Rugby
- Sandwell
- Shropshire
- Solihull
- South Staffordshire
- Stafford
- Staffordshire
- Staffordshire Moorlands
- Stoke-on-Trent(guide published)
- Stratford on Avon
- Tamworth
- Telford and Wrekin
- Walsall(guide published)
- Warwick
- Warwickshire
- Wolverhampton(guide published)
- Worcester
- Worcestershire
- Wychavon
- Wyre Forest
East of England50 councils · 28 guides
- Babergh(guide published)
- Basildon(guide published)
- Bedford(guide published)
- Braintree(guide published)
- Breckland(guide published)
- Brentwood(guide published)
- Broadland(guide published)
- Broxbourne(guide published)
- Cambridge(guide published)
- Cambridgeshire(guide published)
- Castle Point(guide published)
- Central Bedfordshire(guide published)
- Chelmsford(guide published)
- Colchester(guide published)
- Dacorum(guide published)
- East Cambridgeshire(guide published)
- East Hertfordshire(guide published)
- East Suffolk(guide published)
- Epping Forest(guide published)
- Essex(guide published)
- Fenland(guide published)
- Great Yarmouth(guide published)
- Harlow(guide published)
- Hertfordshire(guide published)
- Hertsmere(guide published)
- Huntingdonshire
- Ipswich
- Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
- Luton(guide published)
- Maldon
- Mid Suffolk
- Norfolk
- North Hertfordshire
- North Norfolk
- Norwich(guide published)
- Peterborough(guide published)
- Rochford
- South Cambridgeshire
- South Norfolk
- Southend-on-Sea
- St Albans
- Stevenage
- Suffolk
- Tendring
- Three Rivers
- Thurrock
- Uttlesford
- Watford
- Welwyn Hatfield
- West Suffolk
London33 councils · 21 guides
- Barking and Dagenham(guide published)
- Barnet(guide published)
- Bexley(guide published)
- Brent(guide published)
- Bromley(guide published)
- Camden(guide published)
- City of London(guide published)
- Croydon(guide published)
- Ealing(guide published)
- Enfield(guide published)
- Greenwich(guide published)
- Hackney(guide published)
- Hammersmith and Fulham(guide published)
- Haringey(guide published)
- Harrow(guide published)
- Havering(guide published)
- Hillingdon(guide published)
- Hounslow(guide published)
- Islington
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Kingston upon Thames
- Lambeth
- Lewisham
- Merton
- Newham(guide published)
- Redbridge(guide published)
- Richmond upon Thames
- Southwark
- Sutton
- Tower Hamlets
- Waltham Forest(guide published)
- Wandsworth
- Westminster
South East70 councils · 36 guides
- Adur(guide published)
- Arun(guide published)
- Ashford(guide published)
- Basingstoke & Deane(guide published)
- Bracknell Forest(guide published)
- Brighton and Hove(guide published)
- Buckinghamshire(guide published)
- Canterbury(guide published)
- Cherwell(guide published)
- Chichester(guide published)
- Crawley(guide published)
- Dartford(guide published)
- Dover(guide published)
- East Hampshire(guide published)
- East Sussex(guide published)
- Eastbourne(guide published)
- Eastleigh(guide published)
- Elmbridge(guide published)
- Epsom & Ewell(guide published)
- Fareham(guide published)
- Folkestone and Hythe(guide published)
- Gosport(guide published)
- Gravesham(guide published)
- Guildford(guide published)
- Hampshire(guide published)
- Hart(guide published)
- Hastings(guide published)
- Havant(guide published)
- Horsham(guide published)
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Lewes
- Maidstone
- Medway(guide published)
- Mid Sussex
- Milton Keynes
- Mole Valley
- New Forest
- Oxford(guide published)
- Oxfordshire
- Portsmouth(guide published)
- Reading(guide published)
- Reigate & Banstead
- Rother
- Runnymede
- Rushmoor
- Sevenoaks
- Slough(guide published)
- South Oxfordshire
- Southampton(guide published)
- Spelthorne
- Surrey
- Surrey Heath
- Swale
- Tandridge
- Test Valley
- Thanet(guide published)
- Tonbridge & Malling
- Tunbridge Wells
- Vale of White Horse
- Waverley
- Wealden
- West Berkshire
- West Oxfordshire
- West Sussex
- Winchester
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Woking
- Wokingham
- Worthing
South West29 councils · 14 guides
- Bath and North East Somerset(guide published)
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole(guide published)
- Bristol(guide published)
- Cheltenham(guide published)
- Cornwall(guide published)
- Cotswold(guide published)
- Devon(guide published)
- Dorset(guide published)
- East Devon(guide published)
- Exeter(guide published)
- Forest of Dean(guide published)
- Gloucester(guide published)
- Gloucestershire(guide published)
- Isles of Scilly
- Mid Devon
- North Devon
- North Somerset
- Plymouth(guide published)
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- South Hams
- Stroud
- Swindon
- Teignbridge
- Tewkesbury
- Torbay
- Torridge
- West Devon
- Wiltshire
✓ Fact-checked guide published · everything else links to a council page with the guide to follow.