Council licensing · West Midlands
Licensing in Nuneaton and Bedworth
Nuneaton and Bedworth has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force. A selective scheme in part of the council area is proposed. A additional HMO scheme in part of the council area is proposed.
Researched 14 October 2026 · Independently checked 14 October 2026
Check a specific address in Nuneaton and Bedworth
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 only19
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 forceMandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Nuneaton and Bedworth fees)
- Area
The whole of Nuneaton and Bedworth borough (national scheme).
- Fee
£841 for 5 years
£841 where the house is occupied by five persons living as two or more households; £882 for six to ten occupiers; £923 for eleven occupiers and over. No renewal fee or effective date is shown on the page.
- Who needs one
- Any property, regardless of the number of storeys, let to five or more people in two or more households who share amenities such as a bathroom and kitchen. The licence must be granted before the property is occupied on that basis.
- Notes
- This is the national scheme. Nuneaton and Bedworth publishes its own page and fees. Licensed HMOs are inspected after the fee is paid and must reach a minimum standard; the licence lasts five years but can be revoked if standards drop or the holder is prosecuted. The council's FAQ says an HMO with fewer than five occupiers needs no licence and the council cannot make the operator apply for one, so there is no additional licensing yet (Cabinet approved additional and selective licensing in principle on 9 September 2026; see the proposed schemes). An HMO licence application pack and HMO standards are published. On 15 July 2026 Cabinet also adopted revised HMO mandatory licence conditions, with strengthened management, inspection, evidence and record-keeping requirements updated for the assured tenancy model; the conditions text was not found online. The generic GOV.UK HMO page the council links redirects to the licence finder with no council selected, so the council-specific GOV.UK page is recorded as the apply link.
Selective licence
ProposedMedium confidenceProposed selective licensing (Housing Act 2004 section 80), approved in principle by Cabinet on 9 September 2026
- Area
Area not yet decided. Cabinet approved selective licensing in principle on 9 September 2026; the report costed both targeted and borough-wide options, and no draft designation has been published.
- Fee
Not yet confirmed
No fee set.
- Who needs one
- Not yet defined. Selective licensing under section 80 would cover privately rented homes that do not need an HMO licence, in an area still to be decided. Nothing is licensable under this proposal yet.
- Notes
- Proposal only: no statutory consultation has opened yet and nothing is licensable. On 9 September 2026 Cabinet (agenda item 12, 'Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) - Introduction of Additional HMO Licensing and Selective Licensing') approved 'in principle the introduction of additional HMO licensing under section 56 and selective licensing under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004, subject to the outcome of the statutory consultation', and instructed officers to bring forward the designation report 'subject to the required budget provisions being identified' (minute CB41(e), printed in the 7 October 2026 Cabinet pack). The report's planned timetable: non-statutory survey October to November 2026; evidence base and counsel's opinion November 2026 to February 2027; Cabinet approves draft designations and authorises the statutory consultation in March 2027; statutory consultation April to June 2027 (12 weeks); Cabinet decision September 2027; designations published October to December 2027 with a three-month lead-in; schemes go live and applications open January 2028. The area, fees and licence conditions are not yet set.
Additional HMO licence
ProposedMedium confidenceProposed additional HMO licensing (Housing Act 2004 section 56), approved in principle by Cabinet on 9 September 2026
- Area
Area not yet decided. Cabinet approved additional HMO licensing in principle on 9 September 2026; the report costed both targeted and borough-wide options, and no draft designation has been published.
- Fee
Not yet confirmed
No fee set.
- Who needs one
- Not yet defined. Additional licensing under section 56 would cover HMOs that do not need a mandatory licence, in an area still to be decided. Nothing is licensable under this proposal yet.
- Notes
- Proposal only: no statutory consultation has opened yet and nothing is licensable. On 9 September 2026 Cabinet (agenda item 12, 'Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) - Introduction of Additional HMO Licensing and Selective Licensing') approved 'in principle the introduction of additional HMO licensing under section 56 and selective licensing under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004, subject to the outcome of the statutory consultation', and instructed officers to bring forward the designation report 'subject to the required budget provisions being identified' (minute CB41(e), printed in the 7 October 2026 Cabinet pack). The report's planned timetable: non-statutory survey October to November 2026; evidence base and counsel's opinion November 2026 to February 2027; Cabinet approves draft designations and authorises the statutory consultation in March 2027; statutory consultation April to June 2027 (12 weeks); Cabinet decision September 2027; designations published October to December 2027 with a three-month lead-in; schemes go live and applications open January 2028. The area, fees and licence conditions are not yet set.
Article 4 for house shares
We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Nuneaton and Bedworth.
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.
On 15 July 2026 Cabinet (item 7, 'Adoption of Revised Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy, Civil Penalty Policy and HMO Mandatory Licence Conditions') adopted the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy 2026 (Appendix A of the Cabinet pack) and an ACEHO-model civil penalty policy under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, 'to take effect from 1 May 2026 with transitional arrangements' (minute CB23). The report says 'The locally determined penalty calculation matrix has been replaced with a statutory matrix including set starting points and structured factors, including landlord type', and that the old and new policies 'will operate in tandem, with the applicable policy determined by the date on which the offence was committed' for about six months. The civil penalty policy document itself is not in the Cabinet pack or on the council website. The website's enforcement policy page still lists only the May 2018 policy (civil penalties up to £30,000, calculated with an unpublished matrix 'adopted by cabinet') and its COVID-19 addendum (https://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/downloads/file/1063/enforcement-policy); that policy applies only to offences committed before 1 May 2026.
Consultations
No consultation was recorded when we researched Nuneaton and Bedworth.
Not yet confirmed
These points were unresolved when we researched Nuneaton and Bedworth on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.
- Not yet confirmed
The July 2026 civil penalty policy document is not published (it is not in the Cabinet pack, and the council's enforcement policy page still lists only the 2018 policy), so its starting points and its use of the £40,000 maximum could not be read, either in research or in the independent check (2026-10-14). Ask the council for a copy.
- Not yet confirmed
The civil penalty matrix referred to in the 2018 enforcement policy, which still applies to offences committed before 1 May 2026, is not published online.
- Not yet confirmed
Additional and selective licensing are approved in principle only. The designated area (targeted and borough-wide options were costed), fees and dates are undecided and depend on budget provision, counsel's opinion and the statutory consultation planned for April to June 2027; watch for Cabinet approving draft designations (planned for March 2027). No consultations entry is recorded because the statutory consultation has not opened. The 22 October 2026 Communities, Corporate Resources and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel agenda asks members whether to re-form an HMO Working Group and lists an HMO policy review update on its work programme (dated both November 2027 and 11 February 2027 in the same pack). Source: https://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/download/meetings/id/1806/Download%2520the%2520Agenda%252C%2520reports%2520and%2520appendices
- Not yet confirmed
Article 4: no direction exists. Cabinet decided on 9 September 2026 not to make one now and asked for further evidence and a further report; watch for that report.
- Not yet confirmed
The revised HMO mandatory licence conditions adopted on 15 July 2026 are not published online, so conditions_url is null.
- Not yet confirmed
Not independently re-checked (verification of 2026-10-14): whether the £841 / £882 / £923 mandatory HMO fees are the 2026/27 figures (the page shows no date or renewal fee), and the scheme position beyond the council's own pages and committee papers (no web or NRLA tracker search was possible).
Landlord register
Licensing is separate from the national landlord register. Nuneaton and Bedworth 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