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Council licensing in East of England

Licensing in Breckland

Breckland has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 14 Oct 2026

Check an address in Breckland

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 only27

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
Not yet confirmed
Consultation
None open

Licensing schemes

  • Mandatory HMO licence

    In forceMedium confidence

    Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Breckland fees)

    Area

    The whole of Breckland District (national scheme).

    Fee

    £861

    The fee depends on the number of bedrooms and is paid in two parts: Part 1 with the application, Part 2 once the draft licence conditions are agreed after an inspection. The figure shown is the new-application total for 5 bedrooms (£418 + £443). New application totals: 3 bedrooms £768, 4 £815, 5 £861, 6 £953, 7 £999, 8 £1,046, 9 £1,092, 10 £1,138, 11 £1,230, 12 £1,277, 13 £1,323, 14 £1,369, 15 £1,415. Renewal totals: 3 bedrooms £588, 4 £623, 5 £658, 6 £728, 7 £763, 8 £798, 9 £833, 10 £869, 11 £939, 12 £974, 13 £1,009, 14 £1,044, 15 £1,079. Read from the Wayback Machine copy of the council page captured 14 April 2026; the page says it was last modified on 2 July 2025. The council's 2026/27 fees schedule (Cabinet, 9 February 2026) lists HMO licence fees only as 'Variable', so it does not confirm whether these rates changed on 1 April 2026.

    Who needs one
    HMOs with 5 or more people living in them (the council's page: 'HMOs with 5 or more people living in them require a licence').
    Exemptions
    The council lists properties that are HMOs only under section 257 of the Housing Act 2004, and HMOs exempt under Schedule 14 of the Housing Act 2004.
    Apply on the council's websiteLicence conditions
    How we checked this

    This is the national scheme. The council's HMO page states: 'Breckland council does not operate selective or additional licensing schemes.' breckland.gov.uk returned a Cloudflare challenge (HTTP 403) to automated fetching on 14 October 2026, so the page was read from the Wayback Machine snapshot of 14 April 2026. Applications use a Word application form linked from the page, with the Part 1 fee paid on application; the private sector housing team's email is privatesector.housing@breckland.gov.uk. Standard licence conditions are published as an example and are tailored to each HMO, based on the council's amenity standards and fire safety guidance. The licence register is available on request. The page does not state the licence length.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Not yet confirmed

Whether Breckland has an Article 4 direction on house shares.

Council source

Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine. The version we found has been updated for the Renters' Rights Act.

On 11 May 2026 Cabinet approved a new Housing Enforcement Policy and a 'Policy on Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation', based on the Association of Chief Environmental Health Officers model policies, with immediate effect. The old policies run alongside for about six months for offences committed before the change. The new policy replaces the council's locally set matrix with fixed starting points: failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) starts at £17,000 against a £40,000 maximum, adjusted by 20% for landlord type (£13,600 down, £20,400 up), then for aggravating and mitigating factors. The policy was read from the Cabinet papers; whether it is published on breckland.gov.uk could not be checked because the site blocks automated fetching.

Breckland's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Breckland.

Not yet confirmed

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

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm the 2026/27 HMO licence fees: the latest readable copy of the council page is a Wayback snapshot of 14 April 2026 showing a page last modified on 2 July 2025, and the 2026/27 fees schedule lists HMO fees only as 'Variable'.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The licence length is not stated on the council page.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Article 4: on 28 September 2026 Cabinet authorised an immediate C3 to C4 direction for an area to be defined by officers (decision effective 6 October 2026). Find the made direction, its boundary, the date it took effect and the consultation, then record them; it must be confirmed within six months of being made.

  • Not yet confirmed

    breckland.gov.uk blocks automated fetching (Cloudflare), so the live HMO page, enforcement pages and any consultation pages could not be read directly. Cabinet agendas for 2025 and 2026 on democracy.breckland.gov.uk were checked.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Breckland 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