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Council licensing · West Midlands

Licensing in Tamworth

Tamworth has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force. 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 Tamworth

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 only10

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
Awaiting decision

Licensing schemes

  • Mandatory HMO licence

    In force

    Mandatory HMO licensing (Housing Act 2004 Part 2), Tamworth Borough Council

    Area

    National scheme, applies across the whole of Tamworth borough.

    Fee

    £698 for 5 years

    Licence fees for online applications 2026/2027, paid in two stages. 5 persons: stage 1 (application) £318 + stage 2 (licence) £380 = £698. 6 to 10 persons: £357 + £421 = £778. 11+ persons: £397 + £461 = £858. An optional pre-application advisory visit costs £118, and the stage 1 fee is then reduced by £50 if an application follows.

    Who needs one
    Properties with 5 or more tenants living as 2 or more households who share facilities such as a kitchen, bathroom and toilet. The council asks landlords of smaller shared houses to check with it because of local criteria and standards.
    Notes
    Included because the council publishes its own HMO fee. Application forms are requested from HMO@tamworth.gov.uk (new, variation or renewal). A licence lasts at most five years, a separate licence is needed for each HMO, and licences cannot be transferred to a new owner. Listed conditions include suitability for the number of occupants, a 'fit and proper' manager, an annual gas safety certificate, smoke alarms and electrical safety certificates on request. The council publishes HMO standards, an HMO policy and a public HMO register. The HMO page still says operating without a licence risks fines of up to £30,000; the Renters' Rights Act 2025 maximum is £40,000.
    Apply on the council site

    Sources

  • Additional HMO licence

    ProposedMedium confidence

    Proposed additional licensing scheme for HMOs with three or four occupants (Tamworth)

    Area

    Proposed area not stated in the council's announcements, which refer to HMOs 'in the borough'. Check with the council whether a decision has been made and which area it covers.

    Fee

    Not yet confirmed

    No proposed fee was found in the council's published material.

    Who needs one
    Proposed: HMOs occupied by 3 or 4 people forming 2 or more households who share facilities, which are currently outside mandatory licensing.
    Notes
    Public consultation ran from 20 May 2026 to 20 August 2026 (online survey, now closed). The council said there were 131 known HMOs locally with a further 29 under review, and over half of known HMOs fall outside mandatory licensing. As of 14 October 2026 no decision, designation or start date was found. Nothing is licensable under this proposal yet.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Tamworth.

Council source

Civil penalty policy

The council's policy sets how it decides the size of a fine. The version we found has not been updated for the Renters' Rights Act.

Civil Penalty Policy version 1.1, dated June 2025 and approved by Cabinet on 26 June 2025. It is based on the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 and states a maximum of £30,000 per offence; it predates the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Failure to license an HMO (s72(1)) is a 'Very Serious' matter with a starting level of £17,500. That falls to £12,500 for a landlord with only one HMO and no more than one other dwelling, and rises to £22,500 for a large portfolio (6 or more dwellings and/or 3 or more HMOs, or demonstrated letting experience), before aggravating factors such as property condition or knowledge of licensing. Selective licensing offences (s95) are also covered. The enforcement page still quotes fines of up to £30,000 per offence.

Tamworth's civil penalty policy

Consultations

Not yet confirmed

These points were unresolved when we researched Tamworth on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The additional licensing proposal's area, fee and Cabinet decision date were not found. The council's democracy site (democracy.tamworth.gov.uk) refused connections, the council's consultation page no longer lists the HMO consultation or the Cabinet report, and the only Wayback Machine capture of that page (16 May 2026) predates the launch.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The civil penalty policy (June 2025) still uses the £30,000 maximum. Confirm whether the council has updated it for the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Standard HMO licence conditions are not published as a separate document; the HMO standards document lists the standards applicants must meet.

  • Not yet confirmed

    Not independently re-checked (verification of 2026-10-14): whether Cabinet has decided on the additional licensing proposal since the consultation closed on 20 August 2026 (no council news item since 21 July 2026, and democracy.tamworth.gov.uk refused connections); the absence of an Article 4 direction (planning.data.gov.uk only); and the absence of a selective scheme (NRLA updates only; no wider web search was possible).

Landlord register

Licensing is separate from the national landlord register. Tamworth 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