Council licensing in South East

Licensing in Medway

Medway has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force. A selective scheme in 7 wards is approved to start on 4 January 2027. A additional HMO scheme in 6 wards is approved to start on 4 January 2027.

Checked 15 Oct 2026

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Licensing, ward by ward

Select a ward to see its name and licensing.

Scheme approved or proposed7
National rules only17

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
Area
Whole Medway Council district. Future additional/selective designations cover only named wards and do not replace borough-wide mandatory licensing.
Fee
Published standard fee: £1,598.99
Current dedicated application page publishes £1,598.99 new application. Current renewal page publishes £894.33 where no significant changes and £1,016 where significant changes (bedroom/occupant changes, major alterations or new kitchens/bathrooms). No fee-year label or separate mandatory payment stages/discount was established. These are the current live quotes, not the different £1,600 future additional-HMO rate.
Who needs one
HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households and sharing basic amenities, subject to statutory prescribed-description exclusions. The council's register paragraph expressly uses five or more; a separate line saying more than five is inconsistent and must not exempt a five-person HMO.
Apply on the council’s website
How we checked this
Normally up to five years, with a shorter term possible case by case. The council checks a fit and proper licence holder/manager, suitability and HMO standards. Application needs current plans, address evidence, electrical/gas/fire evidence and tenancy agreements; planning is a separate requirement. Current landing page contains an inconsistent more-than-five sentence and historical rent-repayment prose; the explicit five-or-more register test and prescribed national regime are used. Complete current standalone mandatory conditions and current housing-specific RRA penalty matrix were not established.
Sources
Selective licence
Approved, not started
Medway selective licensing designation 2026 (commencing 2027)
Area
Seven named wards: Chatham Central & Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North & Frindsbury and Watling. The notice defines the designation through these areas and red-edged maps. All seven current individually published designation maps were rendered and visually inspected. Not the whole council or all ME postcodes; exact boundary properties require the legal plan.
7 wards named in the scheme:
Chatham Central & Brompton
Fort Pitt
Gillingham North
Gillingham South
Luton
Strood North & Frindsbury
Watling
Ward boundaries: Current named wards used in the September 2026 designation; individual designation maps dated 8 September 2026.
Runs
4 January 2027 to 2 January 2032
Fee
Published standard fee: £840
Published March 2026 schedule: £840 (£436 Part A on application + £404 Part B when grant decided). September Cabinet report section 6.10 says no change to the consulted fee structure. This is the announced future scheme rate; the schedule is still headed proposed, and final operational invoicing should be confirmed before launch. Accredited-landlord discount £84 off Part B; charity £210 off Part B; multi-dwelling £105 off Part A for the second/subsequent contiguous properties in the same building, common ownership/management and simultaneous applications. Charity discount cannot combine; accreditation plus qualifying multi-dwelling can. No general early-bird figure stated. Discounts require complete evidence and are unavailable after two requests for missing documents or a failure-to-license warning. Part A retained on refusal/rejection/withdrawal; licence not issued before full payment.
Who needs one
Privately rented houses within the seven designated areas, including single-household and two-sharer lets, unless a statutory exemption or mandatory/additional Part 2 HMO licensing applies. The legal notice paragraph 5 covers rented houses generally, while the hub highlights single households/two sharers. Strood North & Frindsbury is selective-only: confirm treatment of a smaller HMO there rather than assuming the additional scheme covers that ward or that all HMOs are exempt from selective licensing.
Exemptions
Notice excludes HMOs required to hold mandatory or additional licences, registered-social-landlord tenancies, interim/final management orders, section 86 temporary exemptions and specified exempt tenancies/licences under the 2006 Order. A section 257 converted building is excluded from the additional scheme, but its individual rented single-household flats may require selective licences.
Scheme details on the council’s website Licence conditions Council's map or designation
How we checked this
The published September public notice says the designation ceases on 3 January 2032. The listed last day is therefore 2 January 2032, treating cessation on 3 January as exclusive. The current hub describes it as ending on 3 January and the report calls it five years; retain this exact-wording discrepancy and confirm the final inclusive date rather than silently adding a day. Cabinet originally acted on 4 August 2026 (104–106/2026), but September minutes state those decisions were no longer effective because the required publication within seven days was not fully complied with. The 22 September replacement decisions (141–144/2026) and current public notices establish 4 January 2027, not the obsolete November 2026 timetable. The September main report retained old dates/duplicate Gillingham North wording in recommendations; actual minutes and new notices correct these. The selective notice also contains a stray '2021' designation reference and obsolete mandatory-HMO footnote; these do not establish a historical operative local scheme. Targeted searches and September report describe these as Medway's first optional schemes; no operative additional/selective scheme or expiry in the last twelve months was established. Applications are announced as opening from 4 January 2027; no live application availability before that date is claimed. Licences last only for the scheme's remaining duration (up to five years), can be shortened and are non-transferable. Linked conditions remain the published consultation document, not an issued licence or an independently recovered final operational set. Existing lawful HMO planning and housing-licensing requirements are separate.
Sources
Additional HMO licence
Approved, not started
Medway additional HMO licensing designation 2026 (commencing 2027)
Area
Six named wards: Chatham Central & Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton and Watling. All six current individual red-edged designation maps were rendered and visually inspected. Strood North & Frindsbury is NOT included in additional HMO licensing, although it is in the selective and HMO Article 4 areas.
6 wards named in the scheme:
Chatham Central & Brompton
Fort Pitt
Gillingham North
Gillingham South
Luton
Watling
Ward boundaries: Current named wards used in the September 2026 designation; individual designation maps dated 8 September 2026.
Runs
4 January 2027 to 2 January 2032
Fee
Published standard fee: £1,600
Published March schedule £1,600 (£830 Part A on application + £770 Part B when grant decided); September report section 6.10 retains the consulted structure. Future announced rate; schedule still labelled proposed, confirm final launch/invoice. Accredited-landlord £160 off Part B; charity £400 off Part B; qualifying multi-dwelling £200 off Part A for second/subsequent contiguous properties under common ownership/management with simultaneous applications. Charity does not combine; accreditation plus eligible multi-dwelling may combine. Evidence, missing-document/warning restrictions and retained Part A mirror selective schedule. No general early-bird amount. This is not the present £1,598.99 mandatory HMO fee.
Who needs one
Section 254 HMOs occupied by three or more people forming two or more households, where not already required to hold a mandatory HMO licence. This includes ordinary three/four-person shared houses in these six wards. Section 257 converted blocks are expressly excluded from this additional designation; an individual multiply occupied flat can separately meet an HMO licensing test.
Exemptions
Notice excludes mandatory-licensable HMOs, Schedule 14 buildings, interim/final management orders, section 62 temporary exemption notices and all section 257 HMOs.
Scheme details on the council’s website Licence conditions Council's map or designation
How we checked this
The published September public notice says the designation ceases on 3 January 2032. The listed last day is therefore 2 January 2032, treating cessation on 3 January as exclusive. The current hub describes it as ending on 3 January and the report calls it five years; retain this exact-wording discrepancy and confirm the final inclusive date rather than silently adding a day. Cabinet originally acted on 4 August 2026 (104–106/2026), but September minutes state those decisions were no longer effective because the required publication within seven days was not fully complied with. The 22 September replacement decisions (141–144/2026) and current public notices establish 4 January 2027, not the obsolete November 2026 timetable. The September main report retained old dates/duplicate Gillingham North wording in recommendations; actual minutes and new notices correct these. The selective notice also contains a stray '2021' designation reference and obsolete mandatory-HMO footnote; these do not establish a historical operative local scheme. Targeted searches and September report describe these as Medway's first optional schemes; no operative additional/selective scheme or expiry in the last twelve months was established. Notice paragraph 10 refers generically to licences under a previous designation; the report calls these Medway's first optional schemes, so no predecessor is invented from that boilerplate. Applications announced from commencement. Up to scheme expiry, shorter where justified; linked conditions are the published consultation set, not an issued property licence.
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Medway 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: Seven named wards: Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, Watling. Signed/sealed immediate C3-to-C4 direction made 14 January 2026, effective 22 January 2026; Cabinet decision 72/2026 on 5 May confirmed all seven. The retrieved sealed confirmation signature is dated 20 July 2026, a later administrative execution date, not a new commencement. Signature/seals were visually inspected. It is not borough-wide and the seven-ward planning scope differs from six-ward additional licensing. Official plans govern exact boundary properties.
Takes effect: 22 Jan 2026

Council source

Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine.

The council's current housing policy downloads page links a Housing Enforcement and Licensing Policy that retains the earlier £30,000 financial-penalty wording. An updated local penalty policy for the Renters' Rights Act was not established. Current HMO guidance and the new designation notices mention £40,000, but do not identify the council's adopted penalty matrix. Confirm the policy and penalty approach that apply to the date of any alleged offence; the older document's figures should not be treated as current statutory limits.

Medway's civil penalty policy

Consultations

Additional HMO and selective licensing consultation (schemes approved 22 September 2026)Approved
Closed 4 Jun 2026

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Medway on 15 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

Not yet confirmed
Confirm the final inclusive day: the notices say the schemes cease on 3 January 2032, giving a listed last operative day of 2 January, whereas the council webpage and five-year summary may imply 3 January.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm final operational fees/discount rules and licence conditions before 4 January 2027. The March schedule and conditions remain headed proposed; September report says fee structure unchanged but a separately dated final invoice schedule was not recovered.
Not yet confirmed
Clarify selective licensing for smaller HMOs in Strood North & Frindsbury, which is outside additional licensing: legal selective notice covers rented houses unless a Part 2 requirement/exemption applies, while simplified hub text highlights single households/two sharers. Do not invent blanket HMO exemption or extend the six-ward additional designation.
Not yet confirmed
Recover the adopted current RRA housing civil-penalty policy, matrix and effective/adoption decision. Current-linked older DOCX retains £30,000 prose; national powers/current notice maxima alone do not verify local adoption.
Not yet confirmed
Resolve stray 2021/previous-designation boilerplate in September notices if needed. Actual September minutes say first optional schemes and replace ineffective August 2026 decisions; no predecessor designation or recent expiry established.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm standalone current mandatory licence conditions, fee effective year and treatment of building-specific statutory exclusions not fully described in current application guidance.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Medway 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