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Selective Licensing

Home Information for Residents Housing Private Rented Accommodation Landlords and Tenants Before a Tenancy Licensing for Landlords Selective Licensing

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Selective Licensing is a scheme that requires private rented properties to be licensed. It requires houses which are occupied by one or two tenants or a family to be licenced. The scheme provides for the regulation of ‘houses’ as defined by section 99 of the Housing Act 2004. 

Click here to see more information on the legislation.

Apply for an individual property licence

Completing this form should take around 60 minutes.

To complete this form you will need.

  • Proof of Identification (ID)
  • Gas Safety Certificate                                        
  • Energy Performance Certificate 
Apply for a licence

Licence Variation

If you need to change your licensing details, you can apply for a variation on licence here.

Licence Variation

What is a Selective Licence?


Selective Licensing is a licensing scheme for landlords with properties that meet the criteria within Nottingham City boundaries.

Licences are for each property. A property could fall under Selective Licensing if there are:


  • One or more occupants forming one household (e.g. a family or a single individual) or;
  • Two unrelated individuals who form two households (e.g. two friends)


The Selective scheme went live in Nottingham on Wednesday the 1st of August 2018. The scheme will run for five years. Nottingham City Council may renew it.

There are also two other property licensing schemes in Nottingham affecting HMOs, Additional Licensing and Mandatory Licensing. If your property does not need a Selective Licence it may still need one of these types of licences. If your property is already licensed under one of these schemes, you do not need the Selective Scheme.

More information is available below. Please read our “Does my property require a licence?” section and the “Selective Licensing Handbook” under the “Resources and good practice guides”.

Why you need a Selective Licence

The Council is concerned about poor standards in the city’s private rented sector. We have received over 4,500 complaints in the last four years about problems ranging from dangerous electrical wiring to smoke alarms not working.

The Council has also collected evidence which suggests that too many people in Nottingham are paying rent on private properties that are not safe or of a decent standard.

What licensing means for tenants

If someone rents a home in Nottingham City the landlord probably needs a licence.

Tenants in Nottingham should only be renting from a landlord who has a licence for the property, or who has applied for one. If you become aware of an unlicensed property that’s being rented out then you can report it.

If a tenant is already living somewhere, and there is no licence, and no application has been made for one, then they may be able to claim rent back from their landlord.

Further Information

 

The Selective Licensing scheme does not cover all areas of the city. It’s estimated to cover over 30,000 privately rented homes in a designated area. It's really important that you check if your property is in a designated area.

Is my rental property within the Selective Licensing area?

Some properties, such as those managed by Housing Associations and Nottingham City Homes properties are exempt from licensing.

Fees and Discounts

Individual Property Licence Fee(s)

Non-Accredited

Accredited with DASH or Unipol/ANUK
 

Total Licence Fee

£890

£670

Part A fee

£520

£485

Part B fee

£370

£185

Block Licence Fee(s)

Non-Accredited

Accredited with DASH or Unipol/ANUK

Block Base Fee(s)

£2,720

£2,025

Part A fee

£1,195

£1,195

Part B Fee

£1,525

£830

Standard Fee (per dwelling)

£425

£385

Part A fee

£260

£255

Part B fee

£165

£130

Paper Application Fee(s) (additional fee to individual property licence fee above)

Application downloaded and printed from website

£65

Requesting NCC to send application by post

£100

Other fees may apply, a full breakdown is here.

Please note - The council will only give a refund if:

  • a duplicate application has been made
  • an application has been made for an exempted property by mistake

 

If you are in the process of selling your property and it falls within the designated area you can apply for a temporary exemption notice (TEN).

You can only make an application if you are the owner or person in control of the property. 

A temporary exemption notice lasts for three months. You can renew for an extra three months in special circumstances. If the property still needs a licence after this period, you must apply for a property licence straight away.

If you wish to apply for a temporary exemption, please download, complete and return the Temporary Exemption Request Form to selective.licensing@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

For more information on temporary exemptions please view the document below.

Temporary Exemption from Licensing 

Please see details of statutory exemptions here

 

It is against the law for any landlord to rent out a property in designated Selective Licencing areas without a licence. We will work with other partner agencies across Nottingham to find unlicensed properties and take legal action.

Landlords with unlicensed rented properties can face a financial penalty notice of up to £30,000 or an unlimited fine from the court.​ You could also have control of your unlicensed properties taken away from you, and be ordered to repay up to 12 months rent to us or your tenants. 

Paper Application

A paper application carries the extra cost of £100 due to the more administrative cost and processing time required. One can be requested by emailing selective.licensing@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

This £100 is split into £35 for the form to be sent out. The remaining £65 is paid with the first part of the application fee when the form is returned completed to us.

If you wish to print your own copy and return it to us, Part A Paper Application additional fee of £35 will be waived off.

 

From 1st December 2019, applicants can now apply for block licence.

Conditions that must be met to enable the grant of a Block Licence

The Council accepts that under Part 3 Housing Act 2004 it is possible for it to grant a Block Licence which covers more than one separate dwelling where the following conditions are met:           

  • each of the dwellings are separate dwellings (usually self-contained flats), within the same building; and
  • each of the dwellings are occupied under non-"exempt tenancies"; and
  • the entire building which contains the separate dwellings must be under common control and management

For more information, refer to Appendix 1 – Policy and Appendix 2 – Block Licence Additional Conditions and Appendix 3 - Revised Fee Structure

You may also need to provide the following if relevant

  • Emergency Escape Lighting Test Certificate (if present)
  • Fire Alarm Test Certificate
  • Most recent portable appliance test (PAT) certificate
  • Building regulation completion certificate and planning consents (if applicable)
  • Evidence of relevant training (if undertaken)
  • Written Fire Safety Risk Assessment (if applicable)

Find out more about the documents you require before you apply

To apply for block licence complete application and relevant appendix below:

 

 

Landlord Forum 6th November 2018

Landlord Forum 11th July 2019

Landlord Forum 29th January 2020

You have a right to request any recorded information held by Nottingham City Council that is not personal information about yourself. Further information on how to make an FOI request can be found here.

Email:  selective.licensing@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

 

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