Birmingham licensing: 25 wards selective, the whole city for small HMOs
Birmingham changed the rules for thousands of landlords on 5 June 2023. Two schemes started that day: selective licensing across 25 of the city's 69 wards, and - far more widely missed - a citywide additional HMO licensing scheme that pulled every three- and four-person share in Birmingham into licensing for the first time. If you let a small shared house anywhere in the city, you need a licence, wherever it is.
The citywide scheme catches more people than the ward one
Selective licensing is ward-based, so plenty of Birmingham landlords correctly conclude their street is out of scope - and then stop reading. The additional HMO scheme has no map: a property occupied by three or four people forming two or more households who share a kitchen or bathroom needs an additional licence anywhere in Birmingham. Section 257 buildings (blocks converted into self-contained flats that didn't meet the 1991 Building Regulations, with two thirds or more let out) have their own licence requirement on top.
What it costs and what it risks
Licences run for up to five years and are charged per property, so a portfolio is a per-door cost, not a one-off. The council is explicit about the downside of getting it wrong: a civil penalty notice of up to £40,000, criminal prosecution carrying an unlimited fine, and rent repayment orders letting tenants claim back up to twelve months' rent. There is also a confidential reporting route for tenants and neighbours, so "nobody will notice" is not a strategy.
Licensing sits on top of everything else
A Birmingham licence does not replace the national duties - it usually requires you to prove them. Annual gas safety, five-yearly EICR, valid EPC, deposit protection within 30 days, Right to Rent, working alarms, and the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet all still apply, and licence conditions typically require several of these on demand.
Verify your ward and the current schemes via Birmingham City Council's selective and additional licensing pages and its address checker. Illustrative guide - fees and schemes 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 (ordinary lets): 25 of 69 wards. 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.