Licensing in Bury

Bury has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 15 Oct 2026

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Licensing, ward by ward

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National rules only17

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: Yes
Consultation: Open

Licensing schemes

Mandatory HMO licence
In force
Mandatory HMO licensing
Area
Whole Bury Metropolitan Borough Council district, including Bury, Prestwich, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Tottington and Whitefield. Neighbouring Greater Manchester councils have separate licensing rules.
Fee
Published standard fee: £685.50
Current council application page: £685.50 for an HMO occupied by no more than five persons or lettings, plus £29 for each letting unit above five. The different persons/lettings wording is retained; confirm the actual chargeable unit count. Multiple applications received together receive a £66 total discount, not £66 for each property. A new licence-holder application and issue with no additional inspection is £100. Payment follows a complete application acknowledged by the PRS Enforcement Team. No separate renewal tariff, payment-stage split, fee commencement date or shorter-term reduction was established.
Who needs one
HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households sharing kitchens, bathrooms or toilets, subject to the statutory building and occupation exclusions. Children count towards occupancy.
Exemptions
Statutory exclusions apply, including qualifying public-sector or otherwise regulated buildings, approved student accommodation, religious communities, owner occupation with no more than two lodgers and buildings entirely occupied by long leaseholders/freeholders. An exemption depends on the exact legal and property circumstances.
Apply on the council’s website Licence conditions
How we checked this
The linked mandatory guide expressly says Bury is only implementing mandatory licensing, but also retains the obsolete three-storey test and old flat-exclusion wording. The current application page confirms the five-person threshold, and the old storey wording is not used to narrow coverage. The current application page and linked 2026 policy describe the five-person test; discretionary powers described in the policy do not establish an additional or selective designation. Targeted current council and committee searches did not establish a made optional scheme, approved future designation or recently ended optional scheme. In October 2026 the council is consulting on its current HMO policy and standards, including clarity and whether they improve HMOs; no proposed additional/selective boundary or commencement is established by that consultation. Licences normally last five years but may be shorter; use the issued term. Proposed licence holder and manager register separately with DBS certificates dated within three months, wait for approval, then register the properties. Documents include gas/EICR, fire/emergency lighting evidence and floor plans; property inspection, fitness and management checks apply. Published November 2025 conditions cover repair, safety certificates, occupancy and management; actual issued conditions govern. Older landing-page fines, tribunal terminology and tenancy wording do not establish current law. The linked 2026 licensing policy and refreshed guidance are themselves under consultation, so do not assume every proposed detail has final approval.
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Bury has an Article 4 direction on HMOs (houses in multiple occupation, or shared houses). Turning a family home into a shared house may need planning permission.

Area: A sealed immediate C3-to-C4 direction and red-edged plan cover the whole Borough of Bury. Both actual sealed pages were visually inspected. The order was made and sealed 10 July 2026 and describes immediate effect; the current planning page and public notice dated 16 July say effect from 16 July. Exact commencement is left unresolved rather than choosing between those descriptions. Consultation closed 27 August 2026; the confirmation section in the published order is blank and a later confirmation decision was not recovered. The January committee authorisation alone is not confirmation of the later instrument. Confirm the operative order and any subsequent confirmation or expiry before relying on planning rights. Existing lawful small HMOs are described as unaffected retrospectively.

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.

The actual Cabinet decision of 30 June 2026, published 2 July, approves enforcement amendments and adopts the Justice for Tenants civil penalty policy, with delegated later amendments. Decision: councildecisions.bury.gov.uk . The actual June annex includes RRA offences, £7,000/£40,000 tiers and an HMO licensing £17,000 starting point before landlord-type and case-specific adjustments. Full payment within the final-notice period, normally 28 days beginning the following day, receives 15% discount; an appeal does not extend or suspend that period. The older generic website penalty-policy PDF still describes a £30,000 framework and up to 30% corrective-action reduction; it must not replace the later adopted annex. Confirm the offence date and later delegated amendments.

Bury's civil penalty policy

Consultations

Current HMO licensing policy and standards consultation; clarity and housing standards, with no additional or selective designation establishedOpen

Not yet confirmed

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

Not yet confirmed
Confirm the HMO policy/standards consultation deadline and final adoption of changes; the current October consultation page does not give a closing date. Do not treat it as an additional/selective designation.
Not yet confirmed
Resolve the immediate Article 4 commencement descriptions: sealed 10 July versus published 16 July 2026. Obtain the subsequent confirmation decision or notice; the published order confirmation panel is blank, and an immediate order requires later confirmation.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm the HMO tariff effective date, precise persons/letting-unit calculation, renewal fee and property-specific term/conditions.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm any later made optional licensing designation or defined designation consultation following the current mandatory-only guidance.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm any delegated revisions to the adopted June 2026 civil-penalty annex and the policy applicable to the offence date.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Bury 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