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Licensing in Dartford

Dartford has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

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Check an address in Dartford

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 (national scheme, Dartford fees)

    Area

    The whole of Dartford Borough (national scheme).

    Fee

    Published standard fee: £905

    Council HMO page: 'HMO Licence Fees 2025/26: A five year licence fee costs £905'; 'HMO Re-Licence Fees 2025/26: A five year re-licence fee costs £695'. No 2026/27 figure was shown on the page fetched 26 October 2026.

    Who needs one
    HMOs of five or more persons in two or more households, except a purpose-built flat occupied by five persons as an HMO in a block of three or more self-contained flats. The council page says a live-in landlord needs a licence only with four or more lodgers or tenants.
    Apply on the council’s websiteLicence conditions
    How we checked this

    Applications are determined within 12 weeks of the council accepting that the application is complete; the page says tacit authorisation applies if the council does not respond within that period or an agreed extension. Minimum bedroom sizes: 6.51 m2 one person over 10, 10.22 m2 two persons over 10, 4.64 m2 one person under 10. The landlords page says each licence is granted for a maximum of 5 years.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Dartford 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
Two directions removing the C3 to C4 (up to six occupants) permitted change of use. North of the A2 (the urban part of the borough): immediate direction made by full Council on 8 December 2025, applying to changes of use on or after 9 December 2025, confirmed by full Council on 23 February 2026. South of the A2: non-immediate direction notified in December 2025, confirmed on 23 February 2026, comes into effect on 10 December 2026. Small HMOs existing before the relevant date are not affected. planning.data.gov.uk lists the north direction (25/00017/ART4, 'HMO Article 4(1) Direction North Order 2025', start 2025-12-08).
Takes effect
9 Dec 2025

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.

Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Licensing Policy dated March 2021 (linked from the council's private landlords page). Section 7 covers civil penalties up to a maximum of £30,000 for Housing Act 2004 offences including HMO licensing offences; annex 2 is the policy guide to mandatory HMO licensing. It predates the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Dartford's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Dartford.

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Dartford. 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's private sector housing, HMO and landlord pages or in the council's committee document search (dartford.moderngov.co.uk: 'selective licensing' returns only audit items and a 2005 HMO licensing report; 'civil penalties renters rights' returns nothing). Absence is inferred, not stated by the council.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The HMO page shows 2025/26 fees only; confirm the 2026/27 fee.

  • Not yet confirmed

    No civil penalty policy updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 was found; the March 2021 policy uses the £30,000 maximum.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The south-of-A2 Article 4 direction takes effect on 10 December 2026; until then a C3 to C4 change south of the A2 does not normally need planning permission (council HMO page).

Landlord register

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