Wolverhampton: no licensing schemes - but a city-wide HMO Article 4
Wolverhampton publishes no selective licensing and no additional HMO licensing scheme, so the only property licence most landlords here need is the national mandatory HMO licence. The real constraint in Wolverhampton is planning, not licensing: an Article 4 direction covering the whole city has required planning permission for small HMOs since 14 September 2017.
Article 4 is the thing that catches people
The direction was made on 13 September 2016, confirmed a year later and came into force on 14 September 2017. It covers the whole of the City of Wolverhampton and removes permitted development rights for change of use from C3 to C4 - that is, from a dwelling house to a small HMO occupied by three to six people. Converting a family home into a three-person share needs planning permission anywhere in Wolverhampton, and has done for years. Buying a property that was converted without it inherits the problem.
Licensing and planning are separate questions
A mandatory HMO licence is required where five or more people from two or more households occupy the property as their main residence and share facilities. Holding a licence does not regularise a planning breach, and having planning permission does not remove the licensing requirement. Councils routinely cross-reference the two, so an HMO licence application on a property with no C4 consent is a good way to draw attention to the gap.
No scheme today doesn't mean no scheme tomorrow
Wolverhampton has looked at licensing before. Landlords in cities without schemes are the ones caught out when one arrives, because the application usually requires several years of certificates you were never prompted to keep. Keeping your gas records, EICRs and EPCs in order now is the cheapest possible preparation for a designation later.
What always applies
Annual gas safety, a five-yearly EICR with a copy to tenants 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 apply to every Wolverhampton tenancy regardless of licensing.
Verify the current licensing position, fees and the Article 4 direction via City of Wolverhampton Council's HMO licence and planning policy pages. Illustrative guide - schemes 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 (ordinary lets): No published 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.