Applying for a selective licence

You will not need a selective licence if your property is:

  • licensed as an HMO
  • managed directly by an educational establishment
  • let by a registered social landlord such as a housing association

You can find a full list of exemptions on the UK legislation website.

Check if you need an additional HMO licence.

Before you apply

If you are not sure which ward you are in, our address checker will tell you if you need a selective licence.

Check my ward.

Documents and other information

You will need some documents and other information before you apply for a licence:

  • name and contact details of anyone with an interest in the property – this could include the owner, freeholder or mortgage company
  • the date of birth of the person who will be the licence holder
  • measurements of all the rooms in square metres along with their position in the property – for example, ground floor left, first floor front right
  • the current electricity installation inspection and test certificate
  • the most recent gas safety certificate (if applicable)
  • a debit or credit card to pay the licence fee

Data protection

Any information you give us is confidential. We can only use it as the Data Protection Act 2018 allows.

We hold and process any information as part of our work to make sure we stay within the law.

We may share personal information you give us if the law allows us to share it. We may do this:

  • as part of our statutory duties
  • to protect any public money we collect and spend
  • we may also use data to prevent fraud or the misuse of resources

More information about this in can be found in our privacy notice.

Apply for a selective licence

Once you have created an account, you will be able to save your progress and come back to your application later. Any licence we issue will be stored on the system securely, along with any associated documents.

Apply for a licence


Page last updated: 20 October 2023

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