# Licensing in Bolton

> Bolton has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force. A additional HMO scheme across the whole council area is approved. A additional HMO scheme across the whole council area is approved.

- Checked 15 Oct 2026 (researched_at 2026-10-15, verified_at 2026-10-15)
- Region: North West
- ONS code: E08000001
- Web page: https://lettance.com/councils/bolton
- API: https://lettance.com/api/v1/councils/bolton

## Licensing schemes

### Mandatory HMO licence: Mandatory HMO licensing

- Status: In force (`in_force`)
- Area: Entire Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, including Farnworth, Horwich, Westhoughton and Little Lever.
- Fee: Published standard fee: £893.67. Current live fee page and official 2026/27 Housing and Community Safety budget fee schedule agree: up to nine rooms £893.67, plus £25.66 per room above nine. Finding unlicensed owner £204.95; reminder/inadequate application/certification/plan £20.90 each. No distinct renewal tariff, payment-stage split or early-bird rate confirmed.
- Licence length: 5 years
- Who needs one: HMOs with five or more tenants forming two or more households sharing basic facilities, regardless of storeys. Council expressly includes qualifying purpose-built flats in blocks of up to two flats. Subject to statutory exclusions.
- Apply: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/private-rented-owner-occupied-housing/home-multiple-occupation-licence/2
- Confidence: High
- How we checked this: Current application guidance requires plans, certificates, the fee and a pre-licence inspection. Licences last up to five years and can be shorter in some circumstances. The mandatory rate remains separate from the £1,211 future additional rate. The currently linked amenity guide could not be retrieved, and the available January 2026 consultation draft is not evidence of the final August standards. Cabinet approved revised conditions and standards in August; existing mandatory HMOs move to the new standards at renewal. Obtain the final adopted documents and follow the conditions on the issued licence. Current council and committee sources did not establish an earlier additional or selective scheme ending in the last 12 months.
- Sources: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/private-rented-owner-occupied-housing/home-multiple-occupation-licence, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/private-rented-owner-occupied-housing/home-multiple-occupation-licence/2, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/private-rented-owner-occupied-housing/home-multiple-occupation-licence/3, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/431/licensing-application-form, https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s13328/Strategic%20Budget%20Report%20-%20Housing%20and%20Community%20Safety%202026-2027.pdf, https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16124/Implementation%20of%20borough%20wide%20additional%20licensing%20scheme%20for%20Houses%20in%20Multiple%20Occupation.pdf, https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16266/minsaugust26.pdf

### Additional HMO licence: Borough-wide additional licensing — ordinary shared HMOs (approved; commencement not confirmed)

- Status: Approved, not started (`approved_not_started`)
- Area: Whole Bolton borough; not restricted to individual neighbourhoods or wards.
- Fee: Published standard fee: £1,211. Final 17 August 2026 approved report: £1,211 per property, Part A application £711 and Part B on approval £500. Supersedes February consultation FAQ split £760 + £451. No current discount or early-bird amount established.
- Licence length: 5 years
- Who needs one: HMOs occupied by three or four people forming two or more households and sharing one or more basic amenities, such as a kitchen, bathroom or toilet. The approved scheme also includes a separate converted-block component, shown separately here because its building eligibility tests differ.
- Exemptions: Statutory HMO exemptions apply; final published designation and conditions still required.
- Confidence: High
- How we checked this: Cabinet authorised the borough-wide additional designation on 17 August 2026, item 6, and approved the fees, revised conditions and standards. Council news expects operation in early 2027, but no made designation, statutory notice, exact commencement or last day has been established. The ordinary shared-HMO and section 257 entries describe two components of the same approved scheme, not two designations or two licence fees. Maximum licence length does not establish scheme dates. Revised space standards have transition provisions and licence holders and agents will need approved training; check the final operative conditions. Consultation ran 2 February to 19 April 2026 and the outcome was approved. The consultation FAQ states that selective licensing is not proposed.
- Sources: https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16124/Implementation%20of%20borough%20wide%20additional%20licensing%20scheme%20for%20Houses%20in%20Multiple%20Occupation.pdf, https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16266/minsaugust26.pdf, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/news/article/2094/bolton-introduces-minimum-quality-standards-for-hmos, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/directory-record/6850/additional-licensing-scheme-for-houses-in-multiple-occupation, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7527/a-better-place-to-rent-in-bolton-consultation-faqs

### Additional HMO licence: Borough-wide additional licensing — section 257 converted-block component (approved; commencement not confirmed)

- Status: Approved, not started (`approved_not_started`)
- Area: Whole Bolton borough; not restricted to individual neighbourhoods or wards.
- Fee: Published standard fee: £1,211. Final 17 August 2026 approved report: £1,211 per property, Part A application £711 and Part B on approval £500. Supersedes February consultation FAQ split £760 + £451. No current discount or early-bird amount established.
- Licence length: 5 years
- Who needs one: Buildings converted into self-contained flats where the conversion did not comply with the applicable building regulations, with the 1991 Building Regulations as the minimum standard, and less than two-thirds of the flats are owner-occupied. This is building-level licensing; the number of households occupying one individual flat does not establish whether its block qualifies.
- Check the property: Section 257 converted-block status requires checking the building conversion, applicable building regulations and proportion of owner-occupied flats; a postcode and one flat household count cannot establish it.
- Exemptions: Statutory HMO exemptions apply; final published designation and conditions still required.
- Confidence: High
- How we checked this: This is the converted-block component of the same borough-wide additional scheme approved by Cabinet on 17 August 2026, not a second designation or an additional licence fee for the ordinary shared-HMO component. The approved report and actual minutes expressly include section 257 blocks. No made designation, statutory notice, exact commencement or last day has been established; council news expects operation in early 2027. The final designation, exemptions and operative conditions must be checked before applying. A single-household flat can be within a qualifying block, so its building eligibility needs separate confirmation.
- Sources: https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16124/Implementation%20of%20borough%20wide%20additional%20licensing%20scheme%20for%20Houses%20in%20Multiple%20Occupation.pdf, https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s16266/minsaugust26.pdf, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/news/article/2094/bolton-introduces-minimum-quality-standards-for-hmos, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/directory-record/6850/additional-licensing-scheme-for-houses-in-multiple-occupation, https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7527/a-better-place-to-rent-in-bolton-consultation-faqs

## Article 4 for house shares

Bolton has an Article 4 direction on HMOs (shared houses). Turning a family home into a shared house may need planning permission.

- Area: Whole Bolton borough, C3 dwellinghouse to C4 small HMO. Immediate direction effective 13 June 2025; original notice and sealed order confirm that date. Confirmed before provisional December expiry: sealed confirmation page states 10 November 2025, while separate confirmation notice states 15 November 2025. Both primary documents visually inspected; discrepancy retained, not silently reconciled. Whole-borough black boundary map visually inspected: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7105/immediate-article-4-direction-boundary-map-2025- . Notice: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7412/c3-to-c4-hmo-article-4-notice-confirmed ; original notice: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7104/c3-to-c4-hmo-article-4-notice . This planning permission requirement is distinct from the future additional housing licence.
- Takes effect: 13 June 2025

Council source: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/7413/c3-to-c4-hmo-article-4-direction-confirmed

## Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine.

Current housing standards page links this pre-RRA £30,000 policy, using culpability/harm scoring and eight bands. The live landing now mentions £40,000, but this does not establish adoption of a new local RRA matrix. July 2026 Housing Standards Service Review discusses new legislation, staffing and funding, not an adopted replacement penalty policy: https://bolton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s15924/Housing%20Standards%20Service%20Review.pdf . No current adoption date or replacement RRA policy established despite targeted council/committee searches; unknown retained. Old PDF is historical evidence, not a statement of current statutory maximum.

Policy: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/2541/policy-on-civil-financial-penalties-as-an-alternative-to-prosecution-under-the-housing-and-planning-act-2016

## Consultations

- [Borough-wide additional HMO licensing consultation — Cabinet approved implementation 17 August 2026](https://www.bolton.gov.uk/directory-record/6850/additional-licensing-scheme-for-houses-in-multiple-occupation): Approved. Closed 19 April 2026.

## Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Bolton on 15 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

- Obtain the actual made additional licensing designation/public notice, commencement and last day, final exemptions and operative conditions. Early 2027 is an expectation only; no invented date.
- Recover final adopted August 2026 HMO standards and conditions appendices. Council-linked amenity download returned 500 and recovered January consultation draft is not final. Confirm transition and training details against operative documents.
- Obtain current RRA civil penalty matrix, actual adoption/effective date and any transitional policy; current linked old £30,000 PDF and generic £40,000 landing cannot establish the local update.
- Resolve Article 4 confirmation date discrepancy: sealed order says 10 November 2025; confirmation notice says 15 November 2025. Both predate provisional expiry and support continuing borough-wide direction; original immediate effective date is 13 June 2025.
- Confirm separate mandatory renewal fee and payment-stage split, if any. Final additional licence fee split is £711 + £500, superseding consultation £760 + £451.

## Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Bolton is in North West, where registration is planned from 15 May 2027 to 14 August 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register: https://lettance.com/register

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From Lettance: https://lettance.com/councils/bolton (catalogue edition 15 October 2026). This is information, not legal advice. Check the linked sources, and the council's own pages, before you act.