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Licensing in Rother

Rother has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

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Check an address in Rother

We'll match the postcode to its ward and the schemes below.

Licensing, ward by ward

Select a ward to see its name and licensing.

  • 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 (national scheme, Rother fees)

    Area

    The whole of Rother District (national scheme).

    Fee

    Published standard fee: £1,163

    The council page gives an initial application fee of £1,122 plus £60 to issue the licence, £1,163 if both are paid together; renewal £792 plus £60 to issue, £830 if paid together. An extra £415 is added to the initial application where an unlicensed property is found during inspection. No fee year or page date is shown.

    Who needs one
    HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households who share one or more basic amenity. The council page lists those criteria and notes some exempt types, such as where the landlord and their household live with up to two tenants.
    Exemptions
    Statutory exemptions, e.g. a landlord and their household living with up to two tenants.
    How we checked this

    National scheme. 'A licence can last for a maximum of five years', with shorter periods possible. The page says the 'online HMO application form is currently unavailable'; request a form from private.sectorhousing@rother.gov.uk. The council aims to issue or reject within 12 weeks and provides a copy of its public register on request to Private.SectorHousing@rother.gov.uk. The page states: 'Rother District Council does not currently operate either an additional or selective licensing scheme.'

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Rother 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
Specific area of Bexhill-on-Sea: 'Rother District Council (Houses in Multiple Occupation, Bexhill, East Sussex) Article 4 Direction 2011' (A4D68), covering land edged red on the direction map. The council's Article 4 page describes it as applying 'in Bexhill town centre where there is a prohibition on converting dwellings to houses in multiple occupation'. The notice says it relates to change of use from Class C3 dwellinghouses to Class C4 HMOs and removes those permitted development rights; the council's dataset records the right as 3L with no end date. Use the council's Article 4 interactive map to check an address.

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.

The council's Civil Penalties Policy page is titled 'Civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation' (ACEHO model wording). It lists £7,000 breaches and £40,000 breaches and offences, uses statutory starting points with landlord-type adjustments, and gives failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) a £17,000 starting point (£13,600 / £20,400 after landlord-type adjustment), maximum £40,000. A 15% discount applies for full payment within the final-notice period (normally 28 days). The page shows no adoption date. The council's 'Cabinet Decisions – 13 April 2026' news item records Cabinet agreeing 'to recommend to Council that the new policies be approved and adopted' (Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy 2026 and Civil Penalties Policy 2026). The council also lists a Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy 2026.

Rother's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Rother.

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Rother. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The 2011 HMO Article 4 notice says the direction was made on 28 January 2011 (notice dated 4 February 2011) and 'subject to confirmation by the Council the Direction shall come into force on 7 March 2012'. The council's Article 4 page describes the Bexhill town centre prohibition as current, but no confirmation document was found (committee-document search returns nothing for that period), and the council's dataset and planning.data.gov.uk give only the 4 February 2011 notice date; effective_date is left null. Confirm the confirmation and the 7 March 2012 commencement.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The HMO page shows no fee year; confirm the fees are current for 2026/27.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm the date full Council adopted the Civil Penalties Policy 2026 (Cabinet recommended adoption on 13 April 2026).

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Rother 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