Council licensing in East of England

Licensing in Babergh

Babergh has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 14 Oct 2026

Check an address in Babergh

We'll match the postcode to its ward and the schemes below.

Licensing, ward by ward

Select a ward to see its name and licensing.

National rules only24

Current ward boundaries from ONS. Some homes are exempt, so check your postcode and the scheme details below.

Selective licensing: None
Additional HMO licensing: No
Article 4 on house shares: None found
Consultation: None open

Licensing schemes

Mandatory HMO licence
In force
Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Babergh fees)
Area
The whole of Babergh District (national scheme).
Fee
£578.55 for 5 years
The council's HMO page says 'The fee for a licence is £578.55'. The Babergh Fees and Charges 2026/27 schedule (section 3.1 Houses of Multiple Occupation) lists the 'Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) License' at £564.78 for 2024/25, £567.78 for 2025/26 and £578.55 for 2026/27. No per-room charge, renewal rate or discount is published.
Who needs one
HMOs occupied by five or more people. The council's HMO page says 'All HMOs occupied by five or more people need a licence. It is an offence to operate without a licence.' The national test also requires the occupiers to form two or more households.
Apply on the council's website
How we checked this
This is the national scheme. Babergh shares a housing service and website with Mid Suffolk District Council. There is no online application: the HMO page links an application form (Word and PDF versions) to be emailed to the Private Sector Housing Team (housingstandards@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk) or posted to Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX. The HMO licence register is available on request by email. The joint Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy (published March 2023) says the council 'will normally grant a licence that has a full-term duration of up to 5 years', with a shorter term where there are concerns about the property (for example a breach of planning regulations) or the licence holder or manager. The HMO page also links a handbook for landlords about HMOs (licences, fire safety, space standards and planning).
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Babergh.

Council source

Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine. The version we found has not been updated for the Renters' Rights Act.

The joint Babergh and Mid Suffolk 'Private Sector Housing Civil Penalties Policy' (Appendix 2 to the 2023 cabinet report, dated February 2023) sits alongside the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy (published March 2023, linked from the council's Housing Standards page). It uses a £30,000 maximum per offence and covers failure to licence an HMO and failure to comply with licence conditions under section 72. Its Table 3 sets starting points by culpability and harm, from £1,500 (low culpability, low harm) to £25,500 (very high culpability, high harm). Its Matrix B (HMO offences) gives starting points for failure to licence of £1,000 (low severity), £2,000 (medium) and £5,000 (high), and £500 / £1,500 / £2,500 for failure to comply with management regulations or licence conditions. Selective licensing offences (section 95) are not listed, as the district has no selective scheme. The council's Renters' Rights Act pages (fact sheets dated June 2026) describe the new £7,000 and £40,000 penalty levels in general terms, but no revised civil penalty policy was found.

Babergh's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Babergh.

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Babergh on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

Not yet confirmed
No selective or additional licensing scheme, proposal or consultation was found on the council website, in a web search, or in search results from the Babergh and Mid Suffolk moderngov committee site. The council does not state the absence; it is inferred from its HMO page covering mandatory licensing only. The moderngov document library was not searched item by item.
Not yet confirmed
No civil penalty policy updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 was found. The 2023 policies still use the £30,000 maximum. Confirm whether a revised policy has been adopted.
Not yet confirmed
The HMO page does not state the licence length or publish licence conditions; the 5-year figure comes from the 2023 enforcement policy ('up to 5 years').
Not yet confirmed
Absence of an Article 4 direction for C3 to C4 changes of use is inferred from the conservation areas page and searches; the council does not publish a complete list of Article 4 directions.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Babergh is in East of England, where registration is planned from 15 January 2027 to 14 April 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register