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Licensing in Darlington

Darlington has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

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Check an address in Darlington

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 only20

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
None open

Licensing schemes

  • Mandatory HMO licence

    In force

    Mandatory HMO licensing (Darlington fees)

    Area

    Whole borough of Darlington (national scheme).

    Fee

    Not yet confirmed

    Private sector housing fees page: Part A licence application £217; Part B 5 year HMO licence £155 per letting (so a five-letting HMO would pay £217 + 5 x £155 = £992); variation of HMO licence £124; other HMO activities £65 per hour. Part B is invoiced after validation and must be paid before grant.

    Who needs one
    HMOs occupied by 5 or more persons forming at least 2 separate households (national mandatory test since 1 October 2018, no storey requirement).
    Apply on the council’s website
    How we checked this

    HMO page: 'A licence will normally last for a maximum of five years, although it can be for a shorter period.' The HMO page text still describes the 2018 extension in future tense, so it may not have been fully updated.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Darlington 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
Whole borough: the direction covers 'Land compromising the entire area of the Borough of Darlington shown edged red' on its plan (made 21 July 2025, confirmed 3 June 2026, in force 28 July 2026), removing the C3 to C4 permitted development right. The council says 'From 28 July 2026, all HMOs within the Borough will require planning approval'.
Takes effect
28 Jul 2026

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.

No standalone civil penalty policy was found. The private sector housing fees page lists 'Civil penalties of up to £30,000 per offence ... an alternative to prosecution' under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 for listed offences, with no matrix. It still cites the pre-Renters' Rights Act £30,000 maximum.

Darlington's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Darlington.

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Darlington. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

  • Not yet confirmed

    No selective or additional licensing scheme was found. Checked: the council's private sector housing hub and its subpages (HMOs, fees, private sector housing strategy, which describes only mandatory HMO licensing, and Renters' Rights Act 2025), and the A-Z index. The council consultations list failed to load ('There was a problem loading the consultations'), so open consultations could not be checked.

  • Not yet confirmed

    No civil penalty policy updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 was found.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Darlington is in North East, where registration is planned from 15 June 2027 to 14 September 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register