Council licensing · West Midlands

Licensing in Lichfield

Lichfield has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Researched 14 October 2026 · Independently checked 14 October 2026

Check a specific address in Lichfield

We match the postcode to its ward and the schemes below.

Licensing, ward by ward

Tap a ward, or focus it with your keyboard, to see its name and recorded coverage.

National rules only22

Current ONS ward boundaries. Exemptions apply. Use the postcode check and scheme details for your property.

Selective licensing: None
Additional HMO licensing: No
Article 4 on house shares: None found
Consultation: None open

Licensing schemes

Mandatory HMO licence
In force
Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Lichfield District fees)
Area
The whole of Lichfield District (national scheme).
Fee
£850
Licence fee £850, plus £75 for each bedroom above five, to a maximum fee of £5,000. Renewal fee £850. HMO immigration inspection £220. Fees are not normally refunded except in exceptional circumstances. Statutory notices under the Housing Act 2004 are charged at an hourly officer rate. The fee page shows no effective date.
Who needs one
A house in multiple occupation rented to five or more people who form two or more families (households) and share facilities such as a bathroom, kitchen, sink or toilet. The landlord must apply and wait for approval before letting it on that basis.
Exemptions
The council page lists properties owned or managed by public services such as the police, fire service or NHS, properties owned or managed by a church, and properties owned and managed by an educational institution for its own students. A temporary exemption notice of up to three months (with one possible second notice) is available if the landlord intends to stop letting or reduce occupancy.
Notes
This is the national scheme. Lichfield publishes its own pages and fees. The council has adopted HMO amenity standards that applicants should read before applying. Licences cannot be transferred to another property or person. The HMO pages still say the civil penalty maximum is £30,000; the council's June 2026 civil penalty policy uses the £40,000 statutory maximum. The register of HMOs is available on request from the private sector housing team.
Apply on the council site
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Lichfield.

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.

A Cabinet Member decision on 16 June 2026 approved an updated Housing Enforcement Policy and a Civil Penalties Policy (Appendix B of the report), based on the Justice for Tenants calculator, replacing the 2020 'Nottingham Model' approach. Statutory maximum £40,000 for licensing offences. Failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) starts at £17,000, adjusted 20% for 'Landlord Type' (£13,600 downward, £20,400 upward). Failure to obtain a selective licence starts at £12,000. The early payment discount was raised from 15% to 30% for payment in full within the period in the final notice. Penalty income is reinvested in private sector enforcement. The policy text was read from the report pack; no standalone policy document was found on the council website. The council's 'Renters Rights Act - Fines and enforcement' page describes fines up to £7,000 and up to £40,000.

Lichfield's civil penalty policy

Consultations

No consultation was recorded when we researched Lichfield.

Not yet confirmed

These points were unresolved when we researched Lichfield on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

Not yet confirmed
Licence length is not stated on the council's HMO pages.
Not yet confirmed
The council's Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Delivery Plan 2025-2030 lists an action to 'research benefits of additional/selective licensing approach for particular neighbourhoods and adopt if need arises', marked 'Not started' (https://www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/downloads/file/3031/housing-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-delivery-plan-2025-2030). No consultation or designation was found.
Not yet confirmed
The HMO pages still cite a £30,000 maximum civil penalty, superseded by the June 2026 policy.
Not yet confirmed
The fee page does not say which financial year the fees apply to.
Not yet confirmed
Not independently re-checked (verification of 2026-10-14): the 16 June 2026 decision date for the civil penalty policy (the report in the democracy pack is dated 8 June 2026 as a Cabinet Member decision, and the delegated-decisions listing returned no results), and the 'Not started' status of the delivery-plan licensing action.

Landlord register

Licensing is separate from the national landlord register. Lichfield is in West Midlands, where the planned registration window runs from 15 December 2026 to 14 March 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Register dates, fee and documents