LetLens / Licensing by council / County Durham

Landlord licensing in County Durham

Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in County Durham let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. County Durham also runs selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. A replacement selective licensing designation has already been made and is due to start from 1 April 2027.

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 County Durham 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£1,050, the same for an HMO of any size
WhereEverywhere in County Durham, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
What County Durham 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 needSelective licence In force
It costs£585, the same for a rental of any size
Where4295 designated postcodes, not the whole of County Durham. 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 mapped boundary. There is no part of the council outside it. 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 DH7 8NY, a postcode near the centre of County Durham, to see what a full report looks like.

What changes next in County Durham

Already decided, not yet in force. A property bought today is bought into these, so they matter more than the current position if you are still choosing.

Selective licensing designation1 April 2027Proposed selective licensing scheme from April 2027. Made but not in force yet, so it does not apply today.

Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it

Which properties each scheme catches in County Durham, 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£1,050

Where it applies: National scheme
Which properties: The whole house or a self-contained flat occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households (mandatory HMO under the Housing Act 2004).

The published fee schedule

Fee: £1,050
Paid in two parts: £628 on application, then £422 when the licence is granted
Renewal: £999
Licence term: Up to 5 years

Council source · How to apply · 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 In force

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

Licence fee, any size£585

Where it applies: 4295 designated postcodes
Which properties: All privately rented dwellings (any single household or HMO, any size) within the designated areas require a selective licence.
Designations in force: County Durham Selective Licensing Designation 2022-2027
Designation period: 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027
Proposed: Proposed selective licensing scheme from April 2027

The published fee schedule

Fee: £585
Paid in two parts: £200 on application, then £385 when the licence is granted
Licence term: Up to 5 years

Discounts

Existing selective licence holder in County Durham on 1 April 2025, applying for an additional licensable property within 12 weeks of it becoming licensable (fee £435 = Part A £165 + Part B £270): £150

Council source · Designated area · read 6 August 2026

Article 4 and HMO planning permission in County Durham In force

4 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in County Durham covering the whole council area, so the permitted-development right to convert a house (C3) into a small HMO (C4) has been removed and planning permission is needed there. Every one of County Durham's 16,336 postcodes is inside a designated area.

HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary

Durham City HMO Article 4 Direction

Area: a mapped boundary
Right removed: C3 to C4 (small HMO)
Made: 25 February 2016
In force from: 17 September 2016

Council notice or order · Boundary map

HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary

Framwellgate Moor, Newton Hall and Pity Me HMO Article 4 Direction

Area: a mapped boundary
Right removed: C3 to C4 (small HMO)
Made: 5 October 2016
In force from: 13 May 2017

Council notice or order · Boundary map

HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary

Mount Oswald, Carrville and Belmont HMO Article 4 Direction

Area: a mapped boundary
Right removed: C3 to C4 (small HMO)
Made: 13 January 2021
In force from: 14 January 2022

Council notice or order · Boundary map

HMO Article 4 direction, the whole council area, outside the earlier direction

County Durham countywide HMO Article 4 Direction (areas not already covered by existing Article 4s)

Area: the whole council area, outside the earlier direction
Right removed: C3 to C4 (small HMO)
Made: 17 November 2025
In force from: 17 August 2026

Council notice or order

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 County Durham before you rely on it. Nottingham City Council publishes its version explicitly and is quoted here as a worked example of the approach.

Nottingham City Council, HMO and permitted development. Indicative only, not planning or legal advice.

The research note behind this verdict

County Durham (unitary, E06000047) HAS an in-force HMO Article 4 removing the C3->C4 right (GPDO 2015 Sch2 Part3 Class L(b)). It is NOT county-wide at the check date: it is defined by four discrete sub-areas around Durham City and its student suburbs. The primary one is the Durham City HMO direction (student area), in force 17 Sep 2016. The other in-force areas are Framwellgate Moor/Newton Hall/Pity Me (13 May 2017) and Mount Oswald + Carrville/Belmont (14 Jan 2022). A COUNTYWIDE HMO Article 4 (covering the rest of the county) was confirmed 17 Nov 2025 and comes into force 17 Aug 2026 - so from that date the whole of E06000047 will be covered. Boundaries taken from Durham County Council's own live ArcGIS feature service (Article4DurhammCity2022/FeatureServer/0), reprojected to WGS84 GeoJSON; the saved the boundary file contains all four in-force polygons (attribute 'Title' distinguishes them; Made_Date and Confirmed fields hold the made/come-into-force dates). Date note: the linked Durham City order PDF (media/10612) internally states 'come into force 13 May 2017' and made 17 Sep 2015 / confirmed 2 Mar 2016 - this appears to be a mislabelled/older PDF; the council's own GIS and its Multiple-occupancy-homes page give the authoritative Durham City in-force date of 17 Sep 2016 (GIS Confirmed field), which is used here. Wards_gss left blank because each area is sub-ward; GIS polygons are the precise machine area.

County Durham Article 4 page · checked 25 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 County Durham 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 County Durham

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£553 pcmFrom 206 room listings in County Durham.
Median whole-property rent£697 pcmFrom 468 whole-property listings.
Typical 4-bed rent£1,137 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
HMO income premium+143%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£137,000Across 1,677 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
Gross yield, whole let6.1%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 HMO24.2%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£33,589Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
Postcodes with flood exposure1.6%268 of 16,336 indexed postcodes.
Postcodes in Flood Zone 3140 (0.9%)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 varies by £181 a month across County Durham’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.

Median room rent by outcode in County Durham
Outcode	Median room rent	Room listings	Check a postcode
DH1	£676 pcm	60	Check DH1
DH7	£550 pcm	33	Check DH7
DH6	£498 pcm	29	Check DH6
DL14	£495 pcm	20	Check DL14

Postcode districts in County Durham

Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 16,336 County Durham 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 County Durham?

How much does an HMO licence cost in County Durham?

£1,050 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 County Durham?

What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in County Durham?

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 County Durham?

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 County Durham.

Can I convert a house into a small HMO in County Durham 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. The direction covers the whole of County Durham, so there is no part of the council where the right still applies.

About County Durham

County Durham is a local housing authority in North East, with a population of about 533,000 and 16,336 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.