Amber Valley: mandatory HMO licensing, no selective scheme
Amber Valley expressly states that it does not currently operate a selective licensing scheme. Its current landlord guidance describes mandatory HMO licensing for properties occupied by five or more people from more than one household, without a storey-count limitation. No additional HMO designation was confirmed in the official material reviewed.
No storey-count loophole
Amber Valley's mandatory HMO test is five or more residents from more than one household. The council does not limit it to buildings of three or more storeys, so a lower-rise property can still need a licence. Count people and households, then check whether facilities are shared; do not rely on the old three-storey rule.
Selective licensing is expressly absent
The council states that Amber Valley does not currently operate a selective licensing scheme. No additional HMO designation was confirmed in the official material reviewed, so an ordinary family let and a three- or four-person share do not acquire a local licence requirement from a published designation under the current guidance. Recheck before acting on a new council notice, because licensing can be introduced later.
Two-stage application fees
The HMO page displays an application fee of £468.95 and a secondary payment of £326.22. The application route and forms are linked from the council's HMO guidance. The council's registers page lists its licensing registers, although the HMO-specific register route is not as direct as the application route.
Planning controls are not HMO licensing
Amber Valley's official conservation material identifies Article 4(2) directions in places including Belper and Milford. Those are conservation controls applying to dwellings generally, not confirmed HMO-specific C3-to-C4 directions. Planning permission and HMO licensing remain separate checks if you are converting or extending a property.
Keep the records even without a local scheme
Annual gas safety, a five-yearly EICR, a valid EPC, deposit protection within 30 days, Right to Rent checks, working smoke and CO alarms and the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet apply to every Amber Valley tenancy. The council refers to civil-penalty and rent-repayment policies, but the current material reviewed does not safely confirm a precise penalty amount.
Verify current HMO fees, applications and registers via Amber Valley Borough Council's official private rented housing pages. Illustrative guide - schemes, fees and policies change; general information, not legal advice.
Renewal tracked from expiry, reminders from 60 days out, proof of service to tenants logged. Knows the 2-month early-renewal rule that keeps your date fixed.
Five years goes quicker than you think. Kept remembers so you don't have to - including the 28-day duty to give tenants a copy.
Expiry tracked from the certificate details you confirm - band E is the current minimum for most domestic private lets unless exempt, and proposed changes are flagged only when they become law.
30-day protection window tracked from the day the money lands - not the tenancy date - with prescribed information logged.
Check dates and follow-up dates for time-limited permissions, stored against each tenant.
Smoke alarms every storey, CO alarms where required, checked and dated at the start of every tenancy.
A one-off duty for tenancies that existed on 1 May 2026. Who was served, when, and how - the £7,000 question, answered with a dated record.
Preparation and export support for the future official registration process - clearly marked as planned.
Selective licensing: No current scheme. See the local picture above - every other duty applies exactly as it does nationwide.
Add a postcode and Kept resolves the council, location and local context automatically.
Planned preparation and export support for the government's regional PRS Database rollout.