LetLens / Licensing by council / Liverpool
Landlord licensing in Liverpool
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Liverpool let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Liverpool also runs 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 Liverpool 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£1,328 for a 5-bedroom HMOband 1-5 units
WhereEverywhere in Liverpool, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Liverpool 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£704, the same for a rental of any size
Where16 designated wards, not the whole of Liverpool. 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. 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 L7 9PG, a postcode near the centre of Liverpool, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Liverpool, 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£1,328band 1-5 units
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- 5+ occupants forming 2+ separate households sharing facilities (mandatory HMO, citywide)
The published fee schedule
- Size charge
- £60 per unit above each unit (bedroom) above 10; from £1,442.90 Part 2 base, capped at max £3,620
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- April 2026
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | £1,328 | £489.10 + £838.90 |
| 6 | £1,449 | £489.10 + £959.90 |
| 7 | £1,570 | £489.10 + £1,080.90 |
| 8 | £1,691 | £489.10 + £1,201.90 |
| 9 | £1,811 | £489.10 + £1,321.90 |
| 10 | £1,932 | £489.10 + £1,442.90 |
Additional HMO licensing No scheme
Selective licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£704
- Where it applies
- 16 designated wards
- Which properties
- Privately rented dwellings (not HMOs; properties holding a mandatory HMO licence are exempt) within the designated wards
- Designations in force
- The City of Liverpool (Area for Selective Licensing) Designation 2020
- Designation period
- 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027
The City of Liverpool (Area for Selective Licensing) Designation 2020 covers Anfield, Central, County, Everton, Fazakerley, Greenbank, Kensington and Fairfield, Kirkdale, Old Swan, Picton, Princes Park, Riverside, St Michael's, Tuebrook and Stoneycroft, Warbreck, Wavertree.
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £704
- Paid in two parts
- £232.32 on application, then £471.68 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 2026
Discounts
- EPC C or above: £64
- Multi-flat (all flats in block licensed by same holder): £64
- Landlord membership (Propertymark, Safeagents, Liverpool Student Homes, NRLA, NW Property Owners Assoc): £37
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Liverpool In force
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Liverpool covering 2 separate areas of the council, 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 3,818 of Liverpool's 10,626 postcodes inside a designated area, about 35.9% of the council.
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 17 June 2021
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 19 July 2018
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 Liverpool 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 Liverpool multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Liverpool
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£528 pcmFrom 542 room listings in Liverpool.
- Median whole-property rent£959 pcmFrom 403 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£1,240 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+113%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£190,000Across 1,070 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 HMO16.7%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£33,150Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure3.3%353 of 10,626 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 3253 (2.4%)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.
Room rent by outcode
Room rent varies by £179 a month across Liverpool’s outcodes, so the council-wide median above is a starting point rather than the answer for a particular street.
| Outcode | Median room rent | Room listings | Check a postcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| L3 | £674 pcm | 56 | Check L3 |
| L8 | £534 pcm | 52 | Check L8 |
| L13 | £525 pcm | 62 | Check L13 |
| L6 | £500 pcm | 96 | Check L6 |
| L4 | £495 pcm | 111 | Check L4 |
Postcode districts in Liverpool
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 10,626 Liverpool 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 Liverpool?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Liverpool let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Liverpool also runs selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Selective licensing covers 16 designated wards.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Liverpool?
£1,328 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: band 1-5 units. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Liverpool?
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Liverpool covering 2 separate areas of the council, 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 3,818 of Liverpool's 10,626 postcodes inside a designated area, about 35.9% of the council.
Which wards in Liverpool are covered by licensing?
Selective licensing under The City of Liverpool (Area for Selective Licensing) Designation 2020 covers Anfield, Central, County, Everton, Fazakerley, Greenbank, Kensington and Fairfield, Kirkdale, Old Swan, Picton, Princes Park, Riverside, St Michael's, Tuebrook and Stoneycroft, Warbreck, Wavertree. 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 Liverpool?
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 Liverpool?
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 Liverpool.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Liverpool 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 Liverpool
Liverpool is a local housing authority in North West, with a population of about 500,000 and 10,626 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.