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Licensing in Stockport

Stockport 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
Not yet confirmed
Consultation
None open

Licensing schemes

  • Mandatory HMO licence

    In force

    Mandatory HMO licensing

    Area

    Whole Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council district, not neighbouring Manchester or other Greater Manchester authorities.

    Fee

    Published standard fee: £1,190

    Current landlord page, updated 13 May 2026: new mandatory licence up to five bedrooms £1,190, comprising £360 application and £830 grant fee. Renewal £1,112, comprising £780 application and £332 grant fee. £38 for each room above five bedrooms; properties above ten bedrooms may be priced case by case. Variation £170 per hour, minimum one hour; incomplete application £110; aborted visit £95; pre-application advice £402. No distinct early-bird discount or explicit fee-year commencement was established.

    Who needs one
    HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households, with at least two households sharing amenities such as bathrooms or kitchens, subject to statutory exclusions. The council standards do not impose a storey requirement.
    Exemptions
    Statutory HMO exclusions apply. A whole converted block of self-contained flats must not be assumed mandatory-licensable solely because it is an HMO; individual multiply occupied flats need their own assessment.
    Apply on the council’s website
    How we checked this

    The council’s recommended standards expressly say that Stockport only implements mandatory HMO licensing; current landlord guidance describes the same five-person threshold. No current additional or selective designation, approved future scheme, defined live housing-licensing consultation or optional scheme ending in the last twelve months was established by targeted council and committee searches. A licence lasts up to five years from issue. Applications and supporting documents are emailed to Housing Standards, with separate online payment. Incomplete applications are not processed until information and the additional fee are supplied. The checklist requires the application sections and basic disclosure reports for the proposed holder and manager, plus applicable safety certificates, fire documents, plans and tenancy information. The published recommended standards are guidance, not a complete property-specific issued licence. The 2026 Renters’ Rights Act enforcement-policy approval does not itself designate a licensing area.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Not yet confirmed

Whether Stockport has an Article 4 direction on house shares.

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.

Actual Cabinet (Housing) Committee decision CHC10 approved the Housing Standards Enforcement Policy and standalone Civil Penalties under the Renters’ Rights Act and other housing legislation on 24 June 2026. The decision record gives 2 July 2026 as effective date; the report proposed immediate effect on approval, so confirm case-specific transitional application rather than assuming 1 May retrospective adoption. Decision: democracy.stockport.gov.uk . The approved policy has £7,000 and £40,000 tiers. Failure to obtain an HMO licence starts at £17,000, with £13,600 or £20,400 landlord-type adjustments before other factors; prompt payment attracts 15% reduction, normally within 28 days. The scheme of delegation and future update powers were also approved. No later replacement was established.

Stockport's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Stockport.

Not yet confirmed

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

  • Not yet confirmed

    Obtain the executed borough-wide HMO Article 4 direction and statutory notice following Cabinet approval on 15 September 2026, then confirm its actual commencement, consultation and confirmation outcome. The Cabinet decision effective date of 23 September does not by itself establish the direction’s operative date. Current applicability remains unconfirmed; do not assume either permitted development or a restriction from those dates alone.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm the exact effective date of the current fee schedule and any case-by-case tariff above ten bedrooms or available discounts. Published new/renewal totals and payment stages are quoted as at the page update of 13 May 2026.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm which civil-penalty policy applies to offences around implementation: the approved report proposed immediate effect, while the formal decision record gives 2 July 2026. Obtain any later delegated amendment or transitional guidance.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Obtain complete current issued standard HMO licence conditions. Current application guidance and recommended amenity standards do not replace the conditions attached to an individual licence.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm any subsequently adopted additional/selective licensing proposal or designation directly with Housing Standards; none was established in the current primary-source search.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Stockport is in North West, where registration is planned from 15 May 2027 to 14 August 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register