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Licensing in Swale

Swale has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

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Check an address in Swale

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 only24

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 (national scheme, Swale fees)

    Area

    The whole of Swale Borough (national scheme).

    Fee

    Published standard fee: £896

    The council's HMO introduction page says 'You'll need to pay £896 for a HMO licence or £761 if you're an accredited landlord.' The Renew chapter says 'You'll need to pay £701 to renew a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence. If you're an accredited landlord, the fee is reduced to £597', with renewals made through GOV.UK. A separate licence is needed for each property. No page date or fee year is shown.

    Who needs one
    HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households who share basic amenities. The council's page says you need a licence if the property is 'not self-contained', 'occupied by five or more people, including children, who aren't related, married, in a civil partnership or living together as if they're married' and 'the occupants share things like a kitchen or bathroom between them'.
    Apply on the council’s website
    How we checked this

    National scheme. The page says 'A HMO licence lasts for five years.' The site has apply, renew, change and appeal chapters and links a list of registered HMOs on its transparency page and 'A guide to Houses in Multiple Occupancy and Mandatory Licensing' (PDF). The council's site was showing a banner that some reporting, paying and applying systems may be unavailable when checked on 26 October 2026.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Not yet confirmed

Whether Swale 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.

The Housing, Health and Communities Committee on 25 March 2026 (item 848, democracy.swale.gov.uk) resolved 'That the revised Civil Penalties Policy be adopted', alongside a revised Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy; the report says both bring the council 'into full alignment with the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and the ACEHO national enforcement model'. The papers include the ACEHO model version 'for use where there are NO SELECTIVE LICENSING AREAS'. The Swale policy (Appendix 2, labelled draft in the agenda) sets £7,000 and £40,000 maxima, starting points with 20% landlord-type adjustments, and for failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) a £17,000 starting point (£13,600 / £20,400 after landlord-type adjustment). A 15% discount applies for full payment within the final-notice period (normally 28 days). The adopted final version was not found published on the council's main website.

Swale's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Swale.

Not yet confirmed

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

  • Not yet confirmed

    No selective or additional licensing scheme, proposal or consultation was found on the council's HMO pages or by committee-document searches (democracy.swale.gov.uk) for "selective licensing" (no results); the March 2026 civil penalty papers use the ACEHO version for authorities with no selective licensing areas. The council does not publish an explicit statement of absence.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The adopted civil penalties policy is only available as the committee appendix marked draft; confirm the final adopted text and its effective date.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Confirm the fee year of the £896 / £761 new and £701 / £597 renewal charges; the pages show no date.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Absence of an HMO Article 4 direction is based on planning.data.gov.uk; the council's own Article 4 list was not retrieved.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Swale 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