Leicester: selective licensing in five wards - and it covers small HMOs
Leicester runs selective licensing across three cluster areas within five wards, alongside national mandatory HMO licensing. There is no separate additional HMO scheme - and that matters, because Leicester's selective scheme is drafted to catch small HMOs of up to four sharers as well as ordinary lets. In the designated areas, almost nothing privately rented is outside licensing.
Parts of wards, not whole wards
The scheme covers parts of Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, Fosse, Westcotes, Stoneygate and Saffron, grouped into three cluster areas. "Parts of" is the key phrase: being in one of those five wards does not automatically mean you need a licence, and being on the edge of one doesn't mean you're safe. Leicester publishes an interactive map of the licensing areas - check your specific address on it, because street-level boundaries are the whole point of a cluster designation.
Small shared houses are in scope
Unlike most selective schemes, Leicester's covers all privately rented properties in the designated areas including small HMOs - two or more households with up to four people sharing. So a three-person house share in a cluster area needs a selective licence, even though there's no additional HMO scheme in the city. Five or more occupants in two or more households means a mandatory HMO licence at £900 instead, anywhere in Leicester.
One fee, one scheme period
A selective licence costs £1,290 and covers the entire scheme period rather than a fixed number of years - the council's stated position is that the scheme runs until October 2027, when it will be reviewed. The introductory discounts that ran until April 2024 have ended, so there's no reduced rate to chase. Applications need a fit and proper person declaration dated within the last three months, which catches people who reuse an old one.
If you're outside the cluster areas
No selective licence is needed - but every national duty still is. Annual gas safety, a five-yearly EICR with a tenant copy inside 28 days, a valid EPC, deposit protection within 30 days, Right to Rent checks, working smoke and CO alarms, and the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet. Leicester's published position on unlicensed properties is fines of up to £30,000, and tenants can seek rent repayment orders of up to twelve months' rent.
Check your address on Leicester City Council's selective licensing map and verify current fees on its property licensing pages. Illustrative guide - areas, dates and fees 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): Parts of 5 wards, to Oct 2027. 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.