LetLens / Licensing by council / Charnwood
Landlord licensing in Charnwood
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Charnwood let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Charnwood also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing.
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 Charnwood 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£700 for a 5-bedroom HMO£700 base + £10/bedroom over 6
WhereEverywhere in Charnwood, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Charnwood 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 needAdditional HMO licence In force
It costs£700, the same for an HMO of any size
WhereEverywhere in Charnwood. Scope, fee schedule and source
Your propertyLet privately inside a designated area, whether or not it is an HMO
You needSelective licence In force
It costs£700, the same for a rental of any size
Where2 designated wards, not the whole of Charnwood. Scope, fee schedule and source
- 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 In force
WhereInside the designated area: a named town. Outside it the right still applies. 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. Other sizes are priced separately; the full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.
Or open LE12 8BR, a postcode near the centre of Charnwood, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Charnwood, 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
Fee, 5-bed HMO£700£700 base + £10/bedroom over 6
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- HMOs occupied by 5 or more persons forming 2 or more households who share amenities (mandatory HMO licensing under s55/s254 Housing Act 2004)
The published fee schedule
- Base fee
- £700
- Base fee, paid in two parts
- £395 on application, then £305 when the licence is granted
- Size charge
- £10 per bedroom above 6
- Renewal
- £615
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2023
Discounts
- DASH Services accreditation scheme member (or re-licence application made before expiry): £85
Other charges
- Supplement per bedroom where there are more than 6 bedrooms in an HMO (mandatory HMO licences only): £10
Additional HMO licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£700
- Where it applies
- Council-wide
- Which properties
- All HMOs (irrespective of the number of storeys) occupied by 3 or 4 unrelated persons, and all Section 257 HMOs (buildings converted into self-contained flats) wholly occupied by tenants, that are not subject to mandatory licensing (certain HMOs in each category are exempt under the Housing Act 2004)
- Designations in force
- Charnwood Borough Council Additional HMO Scheme 2022
- Designation period
- 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £700
- Paid in two parts
- £395 on application, then £305 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2023
Discounts
- DASH Services accreditation scheme member: £85
Selective licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£700
- Where it applies
- 2 designated wards
- Which properties
- All privately rented residential properties within the designated roads of the (historical) Loughborough Lemyngton and Loughborough Hastings wards, except those licensed under mandatory/additional HMO licensing, let by registered providers, subject to Part 4 management orders, temporarily exempt under s86, or otherwise exempt under the Housing Act 2004
- Designations in force
- Charnwood Borough Council Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing (Loughborough Lemyngton and Loughborough Hastings)
- Designation period
- 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028
Charnwood Borough Council Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing (Loughborough Lemyngton and Loughborough Hastings) covers Loughborough Hastings, Loughborough Lemyngton.
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £700
- Paid in two parts
- £395 on application, then £305 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2023
Discounts
- DASH Services accreditation scheme member: £85
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Charnwood In force
An HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Charnwood covering a named town, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. We hold 1,183 of Charnwood's 3,879 postcodes inside a designated area, about 30.5% of the council.
HMO Article 4 direction, a named town
- Area
- a named town
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 12 February 2012
A licence is not planning permission
These are two separate consents from two separate parts of the council, and getting one does not give you the other. A licensing team can grant an HMO licence for a property that needed planning permission and never got it.
Where the permission was needed and is missing, the usual consequence lands on the licence. Councils commonly grant a short licence, often twelve months rather than the full term, to give the owner time to apply. If permission is not applied for, is refused, or an appeal fails, the council will generally refuse to extend and let the licence expire, and will generally refuse a fresh application outright once permission has been finally refused. At that point the property cannot lawfully be let as an HMO at all.
This is council practice rather than a statutory rule, and it varies, so confirm it with Charnwood before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.
The research note behind this verdict
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 Charnwood multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Charnwood
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£582 pcmFrom 171 room listings in Charnwood.
- Median whole-property rent£992 pcmFrom 121 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£908 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+220%Five rooms let individually against one four-bedroom whole-property let, before the extra cost, licensing and voids that come with an HMO.
- Median sale price£268,750Across 530 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let4.4%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 HMO13.0%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£33,591Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure8.3%322 of 3,879 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 3126 (3.2%)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.
Room rent by outcode
Room rent is fairly even across Charnwood’s outcodes, which is worth knowing too: the council-wide median above travels reasonably well here.
| Outcode | Median room rent | Room listings | Check a postcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| LE12 | £604 pcm | 26 | Check LE12 |
| LE7 | £600 pcm | 24 | Check LE7 |
| LE11 | £574 pcm | 121 | Check LE11 |
Postcode districts in Charnwood
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 3,879 Charnwood 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 Charnwood?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Charnwood let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Charnwood also runs additional HMO licensing and selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Additional HMO licensing applies across the whole council. Selective licensing covers 2 designated wards.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Charnwood?
£700 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: £700 base + £10/bedroom over 6. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Charnwood?
An HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Charnwood covering a named town, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. We hold 1,183 of Charnwood's 3,879 postcodes inside a designated area, about 30.5% of the council.
Which wards in Charnwood are covered by licensing?
Selective licensing under Charnwood Borough Council Designations for Areas for Selective Licensing (Loughborough Lemyngton and Loughborough Hastings) covers Loughborough Hastings, Loughborough Lemyngton. A designation can cover only part of a named ward, so check the exact address rather than relying on the ward name alone.
What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Charnwood?
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.
Do I need planning permission for an HMO in Charnwood?
Where an Article 4 direction applies, yes: it removes the permitted-development right to change a house (use class C3) into a small HMO (use class C4), so that change needs a planning application. An HMO for seven or more residents needs permission anywhere, Article 4 or not. Planning is separate from licensing, and a licence does not give you permission. Where permission was needed and not obtained, councils commonly grant a licence for about twelve months rather than the full term, and generally refuse to extend it if permission is not then granted, which leaves the property unable to be let as an HMO. Practice varies by council, so confirm it with Charnwood.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Charnwood without planning permission?
Not inside the Article 4 area. The direction removes the permitted-development right, so a change of use from C3 to C4 needs a planning application. Outside the designated area the right still applies. Check the exact address against the boundary before you commit.
About Charnwood
Charnwood is a local housing authority in East Midlands, with a population of about 188,000 and 3,879 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 Charnwood
Charnwood licensing team · [email protected] · 01509 634666