LicenceCheck UK. A private company, not a government site

Does this address need a landlord licence?

Type the postcode and say how many people live there. The free look tells you where the home stands with the national rule and the council.

Full report £12.99 once, no account

People living thereHouseholds they form

A household is one family, one couple or one person on their own. Three friends sharing are three households. Nothing is charged until you tick the box on the next step.

This is not a government website. LicenceCheck UK is run by a private company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or authorised by any council, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, or any other public body. We charge £12.99 for our own service, which finds, checks and explains the public records listed on this page and delivers them as a report. You can get the underlying records yourself from the official source at https://www.gov.uk/house-in-multiple-occupation-licence, where they are free to read, and the licence itself is bought from the council at the council's fee.

The letter nobody expects

You let a house to four friends. Nobody told you a licence was needed. Then a letter from the council arrives with a penalty of up to £40,000, and the tenants can claim up to two years of rent back.

A licence is not the same as planning permission, and it is not something the letting agent sorts out for you. The council decides. This check reads what the council and the law publish for your postcode and puts it in plain words.

What the £12.99 report holds

Eight sections. Each one says checked, could not be checked, or does not apply here, with the source and the date beside it.

Whether the national mandatory HMO rule catches this home, from the number of people and households you give
Whether the council runs additional HMO licensing, and whether this address is inside the area
Whether the council runs selective licensing, and whether this address is inside the area, ward by ward where the scheme names wards
Any Article 4 direction on HMO conversion mapped over the address, from the national planning data
What an unlicensed let can cost, with the section of the Act beside each figure
How a licence is granted, what the council publishes as the fee, and the room sizes that apply
Why a licence is not planning permission, and who to ask about each
A dated PDF with the source and the date beside every finding

Coverage, said plainly

England only. The national rule applies everywhere in England. The council table holds every London borough and the largest English councils, each read from the council's own page on the date printed. A council outside the table is reported as not checked, never as no scheme. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own rules and the check declines those postcodes.

A report never prints a blank. If a council is not in our table, the report says so and gives you the words to search on the council's own site.

How it works

1. A postcode and two numbersHow many people live there, and how many households they form. A household is one family, one couple or one person on their own.
2. The free lookThe verdict and the one figure that matters, with the source and the date. Free means free.
3. The reportPay by card, get the PDF on screen and by email at once. Every section with its source and the council page to read next.

What we are not

We are not a council and not any part of government. A council decides whether a home needs a licence. We read what the council and the law publish, check it, explain it and give it to you as a report. You can read the same records yourself, free, at the links on every page.