Council licensing in East of England
Licensing in King's Lynn and West Norfolk
King's Lynn and West Norfolk has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.
Checked 14 Oct 2026
Check an address in King's Lynn and West Norfolk
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 only35
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
- None found
- Consultation
- None open
Licensing schemes
Mandatory HMO licence
In forceMandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, King's Lynn and West Norfolk fees)
- Area
The whole of the Borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk (national scheme).
- Fee
£768 for 5 years
By number of bedrooms, in two parts (Part 1 processing to the licensing decision; Part 2 issuing the licence and inspections over its five-year term). New licence: 3 bedrooms £768 (£380 + £388); 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: 3 bedrooms £649 (£299 + £350); 4 £684; 5 £719; 6 £788; 7 £823; 8 £858; 9 £892; 10 £927; 11 £996; 12 £1,031; 13 £1,066; 14 £1,101; 15 £1,135. No fee for variations. Refunds: full refund if withdrawn before processing; if withdrawn before inspection, the council keeps £158 (new) or £129 (renewal) and refunds Part 2; after inspection only Part 2 is refunded. The page shows no effective date.
- Who needs one
- All HMOs occupied by five or more people, including a single flat that is an HMO unless it is in a purpose-built block of three or more flats.
- Exemptions
- The council says a licence is generally not needed where the HMO is owned or managed by a housing association, a council, a health authority, the police or the fire service. Temporary exemption notices (three months, exceptionally six) are available where the HMO is being taken out of licensable use.
How we checked this
This is the national scheme. The council publishes its own page and fees. Licences are normally for up to five years, sometimes shorter. Applications are made online (separate forms for new and renewal applications, plus a fit and proper person form); documents can be uploaded up to seven days after applying, and the legal application date is when a complete application is received. Tacit consent does not apply. The council's HMO page lists, for unlicensed HMOs, prosecution with an unlimited fine, a civil penalty of up to £30,000, a management order, and rent repayment orders of up to 12 months' rent; these figures predate the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes. The public HMO register is not online; viewing is by appointment (housingstandards@west-norfolk.gov.uk).
Article 4 for house shares
We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
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.
Cabinet approved a new Civil Penalty Policy and an addendum to the Corporate Enforcement Policy on 23 April 2026, to take effect from 1 May 2026, with the old policies running alongside for about six months to conclude legacy cases. The policy is the ACEHO template 'Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation', in the version for councils with no selective licensing areas. It sets statutory-maximum tiers of £7,000 and £40,000. Failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) has a starting point of £17,000 (statutory maximum £40,000), adjusted by 20% for landlord type before other aggravating and mitigating factors: £20,400 where the landlord has ever had six or more properties or three or more HMOs, is or was a corporate landlord or its director, or has significant letting experience; £13,600 only where the landlord has had no more than two properties and no more than one HMO and has very limited experience. The adopted policy is published as a committee document; no copy was found on the main council website.
Consultations
We found no consultations when we researched King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
Not yet confirmed
We could not settle these points when we researched King's Lynn and West Norfolk on 14 October 2026. 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 HMO pages or in web searches. The council adopted the civil penalty policy version written for areas with no selective licensing, which is consistent with no selective scheme. The council does not state the absence, and its committee document search could not be used, so committee papers were not searched in full.
- Not yet confirmed
The HMO fee tables are undated, and the council's HMO page still quotes the pre-Renters' Rights Act £30,000 civil penalty maximum and 12-month rent repayment orders.
- Not yet confirmed
No licence conditions document is linked from the apply page.
Landlord register
The national landlord register is separate from licensing. King's Lynn and West Norfolk 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