Licensing in North Tyneside

• Mandatory HMO licence

  In forceMedium confidence

  Mandatory HMO licensing

  Area

  Whole North Tyneside Council area. This is separate from Newcastle upon Tyne and South Tyneside.

  Fee

  Not yet confirmed

  The current application landing page gives £450 application plus £300 licence fee for up to five units (£750 combined), £32 for each unit above five, £250 change of managing agent and £50 amendment. Its linked mandatory-requirements guide instead retains £426 application plus £257 licence (£683 combined), £32 per extra unit and £35 amendment. The older downloadable guidance also has the lower figures. Confirm which current fee schedule applies before payment; a single reconciled base fee is not selected. The main page says paying does not establish acceptance and the council must confirm that all supporting information is complete. No general accreditation or early application discount is stated.

  Who needs one

  HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households who share basic amenities, regardless of the number of storeys, subject to statutory exclusions.

  Exemptions

  Statutory exclusions and temporary exemptions may apply. A general description of a section 257 converted block does not itself establish that the block needs a mandatory licence. Ask the council to assess unusual flats or an exemption.

  Apply on the council’s websiteLicence conditions
  ›How we checked this

  Current council guidance explicitly treats three- or four-person HMOs as examples that do not need a licence. The mandatory rules require five or more people from two or more households and give a five-year licence, or one year where there are compliance issues; the licence fixes the permitted people/households. Application evidence includes appropriate gas and electrical safety evidence, a dimensioned plan with amenities and fire precautions, and declarations concerning smoke alarms, furniture and appliances. Some wording in the linked guidance is old, including CORGI references and £30,000 penalties; use the current safety requirements and new penalty policy, and obtain the actual issued conditions. The current Article 4 consultation FAQs also confirm the five-person licensing threshold. No active additional or selective designation, formally approved future licensing scheme, defined live licensing consultation or relevant expiry in the last twelve months was established by targeted council and committee searches. An Article 4 consultation is a planning proposal and does not create additional HMO licensing.

  Sources

  • northtyneside.gov.uk: multiple occupancy homes
  • northtyneside.gov.uk: guidance landlords hmo standards
  • northtyneside.gov.uk: mandatory
  • northtyneside.gov.uk: submission
  • haveyoursay.northtyneside.gov.uk: faqs
  • northtyneside.gov.uk: private sector housing

Council source

North Tyneside's civil penalty policy

• Proposed Article 4 planning restriction on small HMOs in eight wards; proposed operation 6 August 2027 if confirmedOpen

  Closes 22 Oct 2026

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

• Not yet confirmed

  Reconcile the application landing page’s £750 combined base fee and £50 amendment with the linked mandatory guide’s £683 and £35, and confirm the current fee year and any renewal fee.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain a corrected executed Article 4 direction or express council confirmation resolving its 2027 conditional commencement versus the 2026 effect/confirmation wording on its seal page. Confirm the final consultation outcome after 22 October 2026 and the attached controlling map; do not assume the July decision’s effective date is the direction’s operative date.

• Not yet confirmed

  Confirm any current additional or selective designation or approved successor; current guidance excludes three- and four-person shared HMOs, and no contrary current designation was established, but missing search results are not definitive absence.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain the complete current property-specific licence conditions and current application checklist; linked general guidance contains old terminology and penalty figures.

• Not yet confirmed

  Check any later amendment under the March 2026 delegated policy authority and the civil-penalty policy applicable to the offence date.

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. North Tyneside is in North East, where registration is planned from 15 June 2027 to 14 September 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register