# Licensing in Dover

> Dover has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

- Checked 26 Oct 2026 (researched_at 2026-10-26, verified_at 2026-10-26)
- Region: South East
- ONS code: E07000108
- Web page: https://lettance.com/councils/dover
- API: https://lettance.com/api/v1/councils/dover

## Licensing schemes

### Mandatory HMO licence: Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Dover fees)

- Status: In force (`in_force`)
- Area: The whole of Dover District (national scheme).
- Fee: Published standard fee: £1,298. Council HMO page (no fee year printed; fetched 26 October 2026): new licence £1,298 for up to eight habitable rooms plus £72 for each habitable room above eight; renewal £995 for up to eight habitable rooms plus £53 for each habitable room above eight. Pre-application phone/video consultation £108 per hour; property inspection £190 per hour.
- Who needs one: HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more separate households with shared facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom or toilet (council HMO page).
- Apply: https://online.dover.gov.uk/
- Licence conditions: https://www.dover.gov.uk/asset-library/hmo-amenity-standards.pdf
- Confidence: High
- How we checked this: Applicants supply a copy of the tenancy agreement, gas and fire safety certificates, electrical test reports and building plans. Licence length is not stated on the page. The council's online forms were under maintenance when fetched.
- Sources: https://www.dover.gov.uk/housing/private-sector-housing/houses-in-multiple-occupation

## Article 4 for house shares

Not yet confirmed: whether Dover has an Article 4 direction on house shares.

Council source: https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/entity.json?dataset=article-4-direction&organisation_entity=111

## Civil penalty policy

Not yet confirmed: we have not found Dover's civil penalty policy yet.

## Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Dover.

## Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Dover on 26 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

- No selective or additional licensing scheme, proposal or consultation was found on the council's private sector housing pages or in the council's committee document search (moderngov.dover.gov.uk: 'selective licensing', 'houses in multiple occupation'); the only related item is a 2016 Cabinet decision to join a Kent-wide BRE private sector stock condition survey. Absence is inferred, not stated by the council.
- Retrieve the 2017 Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy (Cabinet CAB 78) and confirm its civil penalty provisions, and whether it has been revised for the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
- HMO licence term not stated; confirm the fee year of the published fees.
- Absence of an HMO Article 4 direction rests on the planning.data.gov.uk dataset and the HMO page, not on a council statement.

## Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Dover 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: https://lettance.com/register

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From Lettance: https://lettance.com/councils/dover (catalogue edition 31 October 2026). This is information, not legal advice. Check the linked sources, and the council's own pages, before you act.