LetLens / Licensing by council / Walsall
Landlord licensing in Walsall
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Walsall let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Walsall also runs additional HMO 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 Walsall 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£1,240 for a 5-bedroom HMOband 5-6 occupants
WhereEverywhere in Walsall, as everywhere in England. Scope, fee schedule and source
- What Walsall 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£1,170 for a 4-bedroom HMO
Where4 designated wards, not the whole of Walsall. Scope, fee schedule and source
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 In force
WhereInside the designated area: the whole council area. 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. Other sizes are priced separately; the full schedules, discounts and surcharges are below.
Or open WS3 1TF, a postcode near the centre of Walsall, to see what a full report looks like.
Each scheme in detail, and the evidence behind it
Which properties each scheme catches in Walsall, 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£1,240band 5-6 occupants
- Where it applies
- National scheme
- Which properties
- HMO occupied by 5 or more tenants forming 2 or more households who share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen (mandatory HMO licensing under s55/s254 Housing Act 2004)
The published fee schedule
- Size charge
- £80 per occupant above 30
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 1 April 2023
Fee by number of occupants, all 7 bands
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 6 | £1,240 | £930 + £310 |
| 7 to 8 | £1,510 | £1,135 + £375 |
| 9 to 14 | £2,215 | £1,660 + £555 |
| 15 to 19 | £2,375 | £1,780 + £595 |
| 20 to 24 | £2,610 | £1,960 + £650 |
| 25 to 29 | £2,880 | £2,160 + £720 |
| 30 | £3,140 | £2,360 + £780 |
Renewal fee by number of occupants, all 7 bands
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 5 to 6 | £920 | £700 + £220 |
| 7 to 8 | £1,180 | £900 + £280 |
| 9 to 14 | £1,890 | £1,420 + £470 |
| 15 to 19 | £2,065 | £1,550 + £515 |
| 20 to 24 | £2,285 | £1,720 + £565 |
| 25 to 29 | £2,515 | £1,890 + £625 |
| 30 | £2,740 | £2,060 + £680 |
Discounts
- Multiple HMO reduction per property (accredited or non-accredited), applied to 2nd stage: £70
Other charges, all 56
- New application, each occupant above 30 (1st stage): £80
- Renewal, each occupant above 30 (1st stage): £40
- Accredited new 5-6 total: £990
- Accredited new 5-6 stage 1: £740
- Accredited new 5-6 stage 2: £250
- Accredited new 7-8 total: £1,265
- Accredited new 7-8 stage 1: £945
- Accredited new 7-8 stage 2: £320
- Accredited new 9-14 total: £1,825
- Accredited new 9-14 stage 1: £1,375
- Accredited new 9-14 stage 2: £450
- Accredited new 15-19 total: £2,035
- Accredited new 15-19 stage 1: £1,530
- Accredited new 15-19 stage 2: £505
- Accredited new 20-24 total: £2,245
- Accredited new 20-24 stage 1: £1,680
- Accredited new 20-24 stage 2: £565
- Accredited new 25-29 total: £2,470
- Accredited new 25-29 stage 1: £1,850
- Accredited new 25-29 stage 2: £620
- Accredited new 30 total: £2,695
- Accredited new 30 stage 1: £2,025
- Accredited new 30 stage 2: £670
- Accredited renewal 5-6 total: £680
- Accredited renewal 5-6 stage 1: £505
- Accredited renewal 5-6 stage 2: £175
- Accredited renewal 7-8 total: £890
- Accredited renewal 7-8 stage 1: £670
- Accredited renewal 7-8 stage 2: £220
- Accredited renewal 9-14 total: £1,520
- Accredited renewal 9-14 stage 1: £1,135
- Accredited renewal 9-14 stage 2: £385
- Accredited renewal 15-19 total: £1,700
- Accredited renewal 15-19 stage 1: £1,275
- Accredited renewal 15-19 stage 2: £425
- Accredited renewal 20-24 total: £1,915
- Accredited renewal 20-24 stage 1: £1,440
- Accredited renewal 20-24 stage 2: £475
- Accredited renewal 25-29 total: £2,150
- Accredited renewal 25-29 stage 1: £1,610
- Accredited renewal 25-29 stage 2: £540
- Accredited renewal 30 total: £2,375
- Accredited renewal 30 stage 1: £1,780
- Accredited renewal 30 stage 2: £595
- Hazard awareness notice (up to 2BR): £225
- Hazard awareness notice (3-4BR): £250
- Hazard awareness notice (5+BR): £280
- Improvement/suspended notice (up to 2BR): £310
- Improvement/suspended notice (3-4BR): £335
- Improvement/suspended notice (5+BR): £360
- Prohibition/emergency remedial action (3-4BR): £390
- Prohibition/emergency remedial action (5+BR): £420
- Non-statutory immigration inspection (up to 2BR): £110
- Non-statutory immigration inspection (3-4BR): £160
- Non-statutory immigration inspection (5+BR): £180
- Fixed penalty for redress scheme failure: £5,000
Additional HMO licensing In force
Fee, 4-bed HMO£1,170
- Where it applies
- 4 designated wards
- Which properties
- Any HMO occupied by three or more tenants forming two or more households, within the four designated wards, that is not already subject to mandatory HMO licensing (i.e. HMOs of 3 or 4 persons)
- Designations in force
- Walsall Additional Licensing Scheme 1 (Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck, St Matthew's)
- Designation period
- 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2027
Walsall Additional Licensing Scheme 1 (Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck, St Matthew's) covers Paddock, Palfrey, Pleck, St Matthew's.
The published fee schedule
- Fee
- £1,170
- Paid in two parts
- £880 on application, then £290 when the licence is granted
- Renewal
- £820
- Licence term
- Up to 5 years
- Fee schedule dated
- 1 April 2023
| Size | Fee | Part 1 + part 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 3 to 4 | £820 | £570 + £250 |
Discounts
- Accredited landlord (MLAS/NRLA), new application, applied to 1st stage: £180
Other charges, all 7
- Accredited landlord new application total: £990
- Accredited landlord new application stage 1: £700
- Accredited landlord renewal total: £655
- Accredited landlord renewal stage 1: £455
- Accredited landlord renewal stage 2: £200
- Multiple HMO reduction per property (applied to 2nd stage): £50
- Accreditation lapse charge (if accreditation lapses during licence): £100
Selective licensing No scheme
Article 4 and HMO planning permission in Walsall In force
An HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Walsall 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 Walsall's 5,578 postcodes is inside a designated area.
HMO Article 4 direction, the whole council area
- Area
- the whole council area
- Right removed
- C3 to C4 (small HMO)
- Made
- 25 June 2025
- In force from
- 1 October 2025
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 Walsall 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 Walsall multiplies the exposure rather than capping it.
The letting market in Walsall
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£516 pcmFrom 193 room listings in Walsall.
- Median whole-property rent£1,077 pcmFrom 97 whole-property listings.
- Typical 4-bed rent£1,735 pcmThe comparison a room-by-room let is measured against.
- HMO income premium+49%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£220,000Across 595 sales in 2026, all property types, HM Land Registry.
- Gross yield, whole let5.9%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 HMO14.1%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£34,005Mean of net small-area median incomes around the council's main listing areas, not a council-wide median.
- Postcodes with flood exposure2.2%120 of 5,578 indexed postcodes.
- Postcodes in Flood Zone 331 (0.6%)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 is fairly even across Walsall’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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WS3 | £535 pcm | 34 | Check WS3 |
| WS2 | £520 pcm | 49 | Check WS2 |
| WS1 | £500 pcm | 50 | Check WS1 |
Postcode districts in Walsall
Licensing, Article 4 and the fee all turn on the exact address, because a designated area rarely follows the council boundary. LetLens holds 5,578 Walsall 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 Walsall?
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across England, so a property in Walsall let to five or more people forming two or more households, who share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, needs a licence. Walsall also runs additional HMO licensing, which can bring smaller HMOs, or every private rental, into licensing. Additional HMO licensing covers 4 designated wards.
How much does an HMO licence cost in Walsall?
£1,240 for a five-bedroom, five-person HMO under the mandatory scheme, from the council's published fee schedule. Fee basis: band 5-6 occupants. Larger or smaller properties, and any additional or selective scheme, are priced separately.
Is there an Article 4 direction in Walsall?
An HMO Article 4 direction is in force in Walsall 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 Walsall's 5,578 postcodes is inside a designated area.
Which wards in Walsall are covered by licensing?
Additional HMO licensing under Walsall Additional Licensing Scheme 1 (Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck, St Matthew's) covers Paddock, Palfrey, Pleck, St Matthew's. 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 Walsall?
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 Walsall?
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 Walsall.
Can I convert a house into a small HMO in Walsall 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 Walsall, so there is no part of the council where the right still applies.
About Walsall
Walsall is a local housing authority in West Midlands, with a population of about 287,000 and 5,578 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 Walsall
Walsall licensing team · [email protected] · 01922 652171