Licensing in Northumberland

• Selective licence

  In force

  Croft Ward area of Blyth selective licensing designation 2024

  Area

  Mapped Croft area in Blyth, bounded by and including Hodgsons Road (B1329) north, Waterloo Road/Bridge Street (B1328) south, Regent Street (B1329) east and Renwick Road (A193) west, subject to the actual designation plan and schedule. The signed four-page designation and red-edged plan were visually inspected; its schedule names 47 streets. Boundary/through-roads may extend outside the red line, so a road name or current ward alone cannot establish coverage. Check the exact property against the council map.

  Runs

  14 October 2024 to 13 October 2029

  Fee

  Published standard fee: £650

  Published fee structure: £650 standard, Part 1 application/processing £200 and Part 2 enforcement £450. Discounted accreditation fee £495 (£200+£295), subject to council eligibility; it is not an unconditional price for every applicant or an established current early-bird offer. Late application £250; bulk discount £25 after the third property licensed. Temporary exemption and variation £0; change to a new manager as licence holder while owner remains the same £80. The PDF has no effective fee-year label. Confirm whether accreditation had to predate commencement and which properties qualify before relying on £495; current PLAN guidance calls this a potential discount. Up to five years, ending with the designation rather than five fresh years for a late applicant.

  Who needs one

  Privately rented houses within the designated red-edged area unless an exemption applies. A single-household let can require a licence; a property already requiring a Part 2 HMO licence is excluded from this Part 3 designation.

  Exemptions

  The sealed designation excludes properties requiring Part 2 HMO licensing, registered-social-landlord tenancies, properties under interim/final management orders, section 86 temporary exemption notices and tenancies/licences excluded by the Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006. Current council guidance also lists business tenancies, leases over 21 years, qualifying relatives and holiday lets; confirm the precise statutory exemption with the council.

  Apply on the council’s websiteLicence conditionsCouncil's map or designation
  ›How we checked this

  Sealed designation made 9 July 2024, operative 14 October 2024. Clause 3 ends it at the end of five years from commencement; the current operational page explicitly gives 13 October 2029, recorded here as the last day. It is not all Blyth or all Northumberland. Licences are not transferable. May 2026 standard selective conditions were adopted by Cabinet on 12 May (effective 18 May); template placeholders require the actual issued licence. The original 2023/24 consultation led to this operative scheme and is not a live proposal. A 2026 county work programme considers expansion, and the February 2026 Blyth Neighbourhood Plan submission draft community action 5 seeks evidence to extend licensing elsewhere in town; neither establishes a new approved boundary, date or live licensing consultation.

  Sources

  • northumberland.gov.uk: private landlords and tenants
  • northumberland.gov.uk: Sealed Designation of selective licensing area Croft Ward Blyth 1 1 (PDF)
  • northumberland.gov.uk: Fee structure (PDF)
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: Appendix 4 for Housing Enforcement and Civil penalty Policies (PDF)
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: ieDecisionDetails
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: Regulation and Enforcement Update (PDF)
  • northumberland.gov.uk: Blyth NP Submission Draft FINAL FOR SUBMISSION (PDF)

• Mandatory HMO licence

  In forceMedium confidence

  Mandatory HMO licensing

  Area

  The Northumberland County Council housing-authority area, rather than only the Croft selective-licensing area. Planning responsibilities, including Northumberland National Park, must be checked separately.

  Fee

  Not yet confirmed

  The current private-sector housing page directs applicants to HMO Policy v3 for costs. Section 3.5.3 sets £105 per dwelling unit (bedsit or flat), plus an overall 15% administration fee. This is not a single property total and is not £105 per occupant; the required unit count/interpretation must be confirmed. Policy adds 20% for an incomplete/invalid application and 20% for missing/incorrect payment. The URL is named HMO-Policy-v3.pdf but the document itself starts with v2 and discusses the 2018 extension. The policy has no current fee-year label; no HMO replacement amount was recovered from the 2026/27 corporate fees schedule, so current applicability and the final quote remain an explicit question.

  Who needs one

  HMOs with five or more tenants forming more than one household and sharing kitchen, bathroom or toilet facilities, subject to statutory exclusions.

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

  Normally up to five years; the council may grant a shorter period for management/anti-social-behaviour concerns and may deduct an unlicensed period. The linked policy says a further licence covering the remainder of a five-year total after an initial shorter licence does not incur another fee. Current standard conditions were adopted by Cabinet on 12 May 2026 (decision effective 18 May), alongside new housing enforcement and civil penalty policies; they contain property-specific placeholders and are not an issued licence. Fresh official searches did not establish an additional HMO designation, another approved future scheme, or a recent expired optional designation. The 2026 regulation/enforcement work programme proposes a comprehensive review of discretionary/selective licensing with a view to expansion; this is not itself a designation or open licensing consultation.

  Sources

  • northumberland.gov.uk: private sector housing
  • northumberland.gov.uk: HMO Policy v3 (PDF)
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: Appendix5ScheduleofFeesandCharges202627 (PDF)
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: ieDecisionDetails
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: Appendix 3 for Housing Enforcement and Civil penalty Policies (PDF)
  • northumberland.moderngov.co.uk: Decisions 12th May 2026 10.00 Cabinet (PDF)

Council source

Northumberland's civil penalty policy

We found no consultations when we researched Northumberland.

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

• Not yet confirmed

  Confirm the current HMO fee-year, dwelling-unit interpretation and total payable. The undated v3 policy linked by current guidance uses £105 per bedsit/flat plus 15% administration, not a single comparable property fee; a flat amount is deliberately null.

• Not yet confirmed

  Confirm current eligibility for the £495 accredited selective-licence rate, any commencement-time accreditation condition and application of bulk/late charges; current fee PDF is undated.

• Not yet confirmed

  Use the legal Croft red-edged plan and street schedule for an exact address. The retrieved evidence does not establish that every property on a named road or in a current ward is included.

• Not yet confirmed

  Follow the 2026 discretionary/selective licensing review and Blyth community actions for subsequent council decisions, consultations or new designations. No resulting new designation was established in this research.

• Not yet confirmed

  Obtain express current confirmation of any HMO-specific Article 4 order, additional HMO scheme, new selective area or optional scheme expired since 15 October 2025. No recovered order is treated as unknown, not a definitive negative.

• Not yet confirmed

  Planning jurisdiction in Northumberland National Park differs from the county housing-licensing authority; confirm the appropriate planning authority for an exact address.

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Northumberland 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