LetLens / Licensing by council / Salford
Landlord licensing in Salford
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Salford let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Salford also runs selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Salford's additional HMO licensing designation has run past its end date, so check with the council before assuming no licence is needed: councils re-designate routinely and a renewal reaches us after it is made, not before.
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 Salford 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£970 for a 5-bedroom HMO£970 base + £40/flat over 12
WhereEverywhere in Salford, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Salford 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 Lapsed, confirm with the council
WhereNo active designation recorded, not the whole of Salford. 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£609, the same for a rental of any size
WhereDesignated area (postcode-resolved), not the whole of Salford. 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 M30 9DY, a postcode near the centre of Salford, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Salford, 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£970£970 base + £40/flat over 12
- 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, s55/s254-257 Housing Act 2004)
The published fee schedule
- Base fee
- £970
- Base fee, paid in two parts
- £679 on application, then £291 when the licence is granted
- Size charge
- £40 per unit above 12
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 23 October 2025
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or more | £895 | £626.50 + £268.50 |
Other charges, all 7
- Subsequent application total (up to 12 beds): £945
- Subsequent application - application fee: £661.50
- Subsequent application - grant fee: £283.50
- Accredited landlord subsequent application total (up to 12 beds): £910
- Accredited landlord subsequent - application fee: £637
- Accredited landlord subsequent - grant fee: £273
- Each additional bedroom where the property has 13 or more bedrooms: £40
Additional HMO licensing Lapsed, confirm with the council
- Where it applies
- No active designation recorded
- Lapsed
- Additional HMO Licensing (citywide, 3 and 4 person HMOs) 2021
Selective licensing In force
Licence fee, any size£609
- Where it applies
- Designated area (postcode-resolved)
- Which properties
- Privately rented properties (all private rented sector) within the designated streets of the Broughton, Kersal and Broughton Park area; landlord must hold a selective licence to let the property
- Designations in force
- Selective Licensing in Broughton, Kersal and Broughton Park 2026
Selective Licensing in Eccles, Barton and Winton 2022 - Designation period
- 21 January 2026 to 20 January 2031
1 September 2022 to 31 August 2027
The published fee schedule for Selective Licensing in Broughton, Kersal and Broughton Park 2026
- Fee
- £609
- Paid in two parts
- £365 on application, then £244 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 23 October 2025
Other charges, all 21
- Accredited first (valid before 21 Jan 2026 / first 3 months) total: £390
- Accredited first early - application fee: £234
- Accredited first early - grant fee: £156
- Accredited subsequent early total: £370
- Accredited subsequent early - application fee: £222
- Accredited subsequent early - grant fee: £148
- Standard first early total: £450
- Standard first early - application fee: £270
- Standard first early - grant fee: £180
- Standard subsequent early total: £410
- Standard subsequent early - application fee: £246
- Standard subsequent early - grant fee: £164
- Mid period (22 Apr-21 Jul 2026) first total: £530
- Mid period first - application fee: £318
- Mid period first - grant fee: £212
- Mid period subsequent total: £490
- Mid period subsequent - application fee: £294
- Mid period subsequent - grant fee: £196
- Base subsequent (from 22 July 2026) total: £570
- Base subsequent - application fee: £342
- Base subsequent - grant fee: £288
The published fee schedule for Selective Licensing in Eccles, Barton and Winton 2022
- Fee
- £609
- Paid in two parts
- £366 on application, then £243 when the licence is granted
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 23 October 2025
Other charges
- Subsequent application total (from 2 March 2023): £589
- Subsequent application - application fee: £354
- Subsequent application - grant fee: £235
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Salford In force
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Salford 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 5,859 of Salford's 6,701 postcodes inside a designated area, about 87.4% of the council.
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 25 November 2018
HMO Article 4 direction, a mapped boundary
- Area
- a mapped boundary
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- In force from
- 17 November 2024
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 Salford 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 Salford multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Salford
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£649 pcmFrom 615 room listings in Salford.
- Median whole-property rent£1,225 pcmFrom 294 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£1,494 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+117%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£236,000Across 654 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let6.2%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 HMO16.5%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£33,983Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure10.8%727 of 6,701 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 3175 (2.6%)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 £63 a month across Salford’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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M5 | £688 pcm | 175 | Check M5 |
| M28 | £675 pcm | 33 | Check M28 |
| M30 | £650 pcm | 105 | Check M30 |
| M27 | £638 pcm | 72 | Check M27 |
| M6 | £625 pcm | 182 | Check M6 |
Postcode districts in Salford
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 6,701 Salford 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 Salford?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Salford let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Salford also runs selective licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Salford's additional HMO licensing designation has run past its end date, so check with the council before assuming no licence is needed: councils re-designate routinely and a renewal reaches us after it is made, not before. Selective licensing covers Designated area (postcode-resolved).
How much does an HMO licence cost in Salford?
£970 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: £970 base + £40/flat over 12. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Salford?
2 HMO Article 4 directions are in force in Salford 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 5,859 of Salford's 6,701 postcodes inside a designated area, about 87.4% of the council.
What is the penalty for letting an unlicensed property in Salford?
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 Salford?
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 Salford.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Salford 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 Salford
Salford is a local housing authority in North West, with a population of about 263,000 and 6,701 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 Salford
Salford licensing team · [email protected] · 0161 793 3344