LetLens / Licensing by council / Cannock Chase

Landlord licensing in Cannock Chase

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Cannock Chase let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Cannock Chase runs no additional or selective licensing scheme of its own, so smaller shared houses and ordinary rentals do not need a council licence here.

The licence you need turns on who lives in the property. Find the line that describes your let.

Required by national lawThe same in all 296 English councils. Not a Cannock Chase decision.
Your propertyLet to 5 or more people forming 2 or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet
You needMandatory HMO licence In force England-wide
It costs£1,028.55, the same for an HMO of any size
WhereEverywhere in Cannock Chase, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
What Cannock Chase requires on topSchemes this council chose to run, and what differs from the council next door.
Your propertyA smaller shared house the national scheme does not reach, typically 3 or 4 sharers forming 2 or more households
You needNo additional HMO licence No scheme
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needNo selective licence No scheme
Planning permission, a separate questionNot licensing. Whether you may create an HMO at all, decided by the council’s planning side.
Your planConverting a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4)
You needPlanning permission None in force
WhereNo direction here, so this is normally permitted development. The direction, its dates and its boundary

Each fee is for the example property named on its own line, from the council’s published schedule. The full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.

Most recent source check: 6 August 2026. Each figure below carries the date its own source was read.

Or open WS12 1TH, a postcode near the centre of Cannock Chase, to see what a full report looks like.

Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it

Which properties each scheme catches in Cannock Chase, in the council’s own words, with the designations in force, the whole published fee schedule and the source for every figure. The three regimes can stack: a property can need a licence under one and still be caught by another.

Mandatory HMO licensing In force England-wide

Set by national law, not by the council. Any property let to five or more people forming two or more households who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet needs a licence, anywhere in England.

Licence fee, any size£1,028.55

Where it applies: National scheme
Which properties: HMOs with five or more people in more than one household who share amenities such as bathrooms, toilets and cooking facilities (mandatory HMO licensing, Section 254 Housing Act 2004)

The published fee schedule

Fee: £1,028.55
Paid in two parts: £653.10 on application, then £375.45 when the licence is granted
Renewal: £985.90
Licence term: Up to 5 years
Fee schedule dated: 2025

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Additional HMO licensing No scheme

A council may extend HMO licensing to smaller HMOs, typically three or four sharers, across all or part of its area.

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Selective licensing No scheme

A council may require a licence for every private rented home in a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO.

Council source · read 6 August 2026

Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Cannock Chase None in force

No HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Cannock Chase, so converting a house into a small HMO occupied by no more than six residents (use class C4) is normally permitted development and does not need planning permission on those grounds. An HMO for seven or more residents falls outside class C4 and needs permission anyway.

The research note behind this verdict

Cannock Chase DC has no Article 4 direction affecting C3->C4 small HMOs. The council publishes its own authoritative Article 4 dataset (https://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/residents/planning-and-building-control/planning-policy/12-digital-planning-datasets, 'Article 4 Areas', last updated 16/07/2026) and it is mirrored on the national register: https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/entity.json?dataset=article-4-direction-area&geometry_reference=E07000192 returns exactly 6 areas, all small site-specific ones (Motorsport A4/3 Oak Tree Farm Slitting Mill 2003; Markets A954 Shooting Butts Road 1984 and A1296 Flaxley Green Fields 1990; War Games A4/4 Colliery Road 1993; Burial Ground A1365 Heath Hayes 1991; and one unnamed A4/6 at Penkridge Bank, Kingsley Wood Road, Rugeley), none mentioning HMO, Class L or houses in multiple occupation, and all outside the towns' residential areas. No Article 4 page exists anywhere under /residents/planning-and-building-control/ (planning-policy and development-control indexes checked directly); the HMO page at /residents/environmental-health/private-sector-housing/houses-multiple-occupation-hmo covers mandatory licensing only, with no C3/C4 planning content. Note the council's own WFS feed (ccs.maps.xmap.cloud/ccs_public/ccc_article4area/wfs) currently 404s and the site keyword search is broken (returns zero hits even for 'planning'), so the national register plus direct page fetches are the evidence base.

checked 26 July 2026

What happens if you let without a licence

Letting or managing an unlicensed property that needs a licence is a criminal offence, under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004 for an HMO and section 95 for a property caught by selective licensing. A council can prosecute, or impose a civil penalty instead. For conduct on or after 1 May 2026 that penalty can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants and the council can also apply for a rent repayment order, which for conduct from the same date can claw back up to two years of rent, up from one, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Both of those maxima apply only to conduct on or after 1 May 2026. Earlier conduct is still judged against the old £30,000 and twelve-month limits. Each breach is normally penalised separately, so an unlicensed portfolio in Cannock Chase multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.

Sources: Housing Act 2004 s72 · SI 2026/319 · Renters' Rights Act 2025 s103 · Shelter Legal England. Indicative only, not legal advice.

The letting market in Cannock Chase

Licensing is only one side of the sum. These are medians from real listings we have collected, with the number of listings behind each one, because a median over a handful of adverts is a different claim from a median over hundreds.

Median room rent£589 pcmFrom 35 room listings in Cannock Chase.
Median whole-property rent£825 pcmFrom 29 whole-property listings.
Typical 4-bed rent£3,586 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
Median sale price£218,000Across 281 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
Gross yield, whole let4.5%Median whole-property rent for a year against the median sale price. Before voids, management, repairs, licensing and finance, all of which a real return has to carry.
Gross yield, 5-room HMO16.2%Five rooms at the median room rent against the same median sale price. The higher figure is what pays for the licence, the extra management and the higher voids, rather than being profit on top of them.
Typical household income£39,299Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
Postcodes with flood exposure2.1%46 of 2,238 indexed postcodes.
Postcodes in Flood Zone 331 (1.4%)The Environment Agency's highest-probability zone. Lenders and insurers ask about this one by name, and it is a subset of the exposure above.

Postcode districts in Cannock Chase

Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 2,238 Cannock Chase postcodes. Open one of its postcode districts to see the verdict, the local rent evidence and the investment model.

Common questions

Do I need an HMO licence in Cannock Chase?

How much does an HMO licence cost in Cannock Chase?

£1,028.55 under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. The council charges the same whatever the size of the HMO. Any additional or selective scheme is priced separately.

Is there an Article 4 direction in Cannock Chase?

What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Cannock Chase?

Letting or managing a property that needs a licence without one is a criminal offence under the Housing Act 2004. The council can prosecute or impose a civil penalty, which for conduct on or after 1 May 2026 can be up to £40,000 per offence, raised from £30,000 by the Financial Penalties (Housing Offences and Breach of Banning Orders) Regulations 2026. Tenants or the council can also seek a rent repayment order covering up to two years of rent for conduct from that date, up from one year, under section 103 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Each breach is normally penalised separately. Indicative only, not legal advice.

About Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase is a local housing authority in West Midlands, with a population of about 101,000 and 2,238 live postcodes indexed by LetLens. It is the licensing authority for every private rented property inside its boundary, and the local planning authority that decides whether an Article 4 direction applies.

Nearby councils

Licensing stops at the council boundary, so a street on the other side of it can carry a different scheme and a different fee.

Contact Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase licensing team · [email protected] · 01543 462621