Council licensing in South East

Licensing in Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 15 Oct 2026

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Licensing, ward by ward

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National rules only21

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 Milton Keynes City Council administrative area.
Fee
Published standard fee: £730
Current HMO page and Fees & Charges Policy version 2 dated 1 April 2026 agree: new and renewal £730 (£485 Part 1 on application + £245 Part 2 on approval), no fee for variation. Part 1 covers processing, Part 2 mandatory inspection/enforcement. No accreditation/early discount or room supplement found. Policy provides specified error/non-licensability refunds, not a general unused-term refund; check exact circumstances. Older £344 references in legacy material are not used.
Who needs one
HMOs occupied by five or more people in two or more households who share bathroom, kitchen or other basic facilities, subject to the prescribed description and statutory exemptions. Current HMO Licensing Policy expressly says only mandatory licensing operates.
Exemptions
Qualifying buildings excluded by Schedule 14 (public bodies, regulated accommodation, qualifying educational/religious communities, owner occupation and two-person cases). Policy says ordinary three/four-person HMOs and section 257 converted blocks do not currently require a licence. A written request for a temporary exemption may be considered where steps will remove licensability within three months; statutory eligibility must be checked.
Apply on the council’s website Licence conditions
How we checked this
HMO Licensing Policy adopted at delegated decision 21 October 2025 (document version 1 dated 4 July 2025). It expressly states no additional or selective schemes and covers applications, conditions, fit-and-proper test and exemptions. Normal licence five years, shorter in exceptional circumstances; non-transferable. Renewal application should be submitted two months before expiry. Floor plan, safety certificates, furniture/fit-and-proper declarations and management details required. Overseas landlord may appoint UK manager consenting to be bound by licence terms, or UK holder, subject to satisfactory structures and signed agreement. Current policy conditions summary/amenity standards are linked; property-specific issued conditions govern. Broadened current council/committee searches found no later discretionary designation, active consultation or optional scheme ending since 15 October 2025. The historical 2014 additional/selective consultation is not treated as a current proposal.
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Milton Keynes 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: Whole borough/current administrative area is subject to C3-to-C4 HMO planning control from 23 December 2011, confirmed by current Article 4 index and separate HMO planning guidance. Earlier immediate direction started 30 December 2010 across the borough except then Hanslope, Olney, Sherington and Danesborough wards and was made permanent 28 June 2011; those historical exclusions are not current exclusions after the second whole-borough direction. Second order made 22 December 2010 and operative date 23 December 2011 visually read on sealed document: https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-07/Article%204%20Direction%20Non-Immediate%20-%20Redacted.pdf . Current index separately lists office-conversion and conservation directions; these are not confused with the HMO order.
Takes effect: 23 Dec 2011

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.

Current housing-policy index links Civil Penalty Policy version 2.2 dated 21 July 2026, titled under Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation. Version history: original adopted 21 October 2025; v2.0 amended 1 May 2026 for RRA, v2.1 amended 24 June for Housing Act 2004 section 6A, v2.2 added enforcement-power delegation appendix. £7000/£40000 tiers; HMO failure-to-license starting point £17000 (£13600/£20400 landlord-type adjustments), selective £12000 matrix entry is a general power not an active local selective scheme. 15% prompt full-payment reduction within notice period; no extra licence fee discount inferred. Current index also links enforcement policy v1 dated 1 September 2026. The old October 2025 penalty PDF remains accessible but is superseded by this currently linked version. Precise committee approval for subsequent delegated amendments not located; version history/published policy are confirmed.

Milton Keynes's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Milton Keynes.

Not yet confirmed

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

Not yet confirmed
Monitor for later discretionary designation or consultation: adopted 2025 HMO policy expressly says no additional/selective schemes, and current targeted council/committee searches found no later instrument. Historical 2014 consultation is not evidence of a current scheme.
Not yet confirmed
Obtain any standalone full current licence-condition template and reconcile with the property-specific issued licence. The current adopted HMO licensing policy describes conditions and links current amenity standards; older application forms should not override current fees.
Not yet confirmed
Confirm exact approval/effective records for the 2026 penalty-policy amendments if needed. Current published version history explicitly dates RRA update 1 May 2026, section 6A addition 24 June and delegation appendix 21 July; no separate unverified decision date inferred.
Not yet confirmed
Check individual building exemptions and current planning permission separately; current whole-area HMO Article 4 applies despite historical 2010 excluded ward names. No licence itself grants planning permission.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Milton Keynes 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