Cambridgeshire County Council: housing licensing sits with district councils
Cambridgeshire County Council is the upper-tier authority, not the local housing-licensing authority for the county. Its official structure page assigns housing and housing benefits, environmental health and residential planning to the five district or city councils. Use the relevant district or Cambridge City Council guide for a property rather than attributing county-wide licensing rules to the County Council.
Choose the correct authority first
The County Council's official local-government structure page assigns housing and housing benefits, environmental health and residential planning to Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire. Those district and city councils are the authorities to check for property licensing.
Do not create a county-wide licensing rule
Selective licensing, additional HMO licensing, mandatory thresholds, fees, penalties, rent repayment orders, Temporary Exemption Notices, licence terms, registers and application routes are UNVERIFIED - could not confirm on council website for Cambridgeshire County Council. They may differ between the five district or city authorities and must not be attributed to the County Council.
The Cambridge City position is separate
Cambridge City Council is one of the authorities within the county area but is a separate licensing authority. Its own guide contains the city-specific HMO threshold, fee and portal information. A property in Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire or South Cambridgeshire needs the corresponding council's answer instead.
Planning and environmental health follow the same boundary
The County Council's role should not be used to infer a county-wide HMO Article 4 direction, planning permission rule or environmental-health enforcement route. Those matters are UNVERIFIED - could not confirm on council website at county level and should be checked with the relevant district or city council.
Keep the universal tenancy file complete
Every tenancy in the county area still needs 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. Those duties do not identify which local authority handles licensing.
Verify the responsible authority through Cambridgeshire County Council's official local-government structure page, then use the relevant district or city council's licensing service. Illustrative guide - county and district responsibilities differ; 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.
Housing licensing authority: District or city council. 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.