Council licensing in East of England

Licensing in Tendring

Tendring has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 14 Oct 2026

Check an address in Tendring

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

Licensing, ward by ward

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National rules only32

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 forceMedium confidence
Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Tendring fees)
Area
The whole of Tendring District (national scheme).
Fee
£878 for 5 years
From the council's HMO Policy (introduced September 2021, updated September 2024), which says the licence 'currently costs £878.00 with an additional charge of £25.00 per room for properties with over six rooms'. The council's HMO web page does not state a fee and no 2026/27 fee schedule was found, so this figure may be out of date.
Who needs one
HMOs with 5 or more people from 2 or more households who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. The council's HMO policy says HMOs with 3 or 4 tenants do not need a licence in Tendring, although they must still meet housing standards.
Apply on the council's website
How we checked this
This is the national scheme. Tendring publishes its own HMO page with an online application form and a register of licences ('Index of Licences 2026'). The council says it visits the property within 28 days of an application. The HMO page still says that letting without a licence can lead to a fine of up to £20,000 and breaking licence rules to fines of up to £5,000, which does not match the council's own civil penalty policy (up to £30,000). The HMO policy says the licence 'will generally last for five years'. No discretionary (additional or selective) licensing scheme operates: the HMO policy (section 4.5) says HMOs with three or four tenants are not required to be licensed. In 2015 council committees considered compulsory landlord licensing (selective licensing was then judged realistic only for Jaywick) but no scheme was adopted.
Sources

Article 4 for house shares

Tendring 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: Borough_wide (whole of Tendring District). The direction was made on 8 December 2011 under Article 4(1), confirmed without modification on 31 May 2013 and came into force on that day. It removes the permitted development right to change from Class C3 (dwelling house) to Class C4 (small HMO).
Takes effect: 31 May 2013

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.

The 'Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy for Civil Penalties under the Housing and Planning Act 2016' was introduced in July 2018 and updated in July 2024 (version 2); the council's policies page gives its next review as April 2027. It allows penalties of up to £30,000 and covers failure to licence under s.72 and s.95. Culpability (low to very high) and HHSRS harm category give a score of 1 to 6, mapped to penalty ranges from £1 to £500 (score 1) up to £17,001 to £30,000 (score 6), then adjusted for aggravating and mitigating factors. It does not mention the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Tendring's civil penalty policy

Consultations

We found no consultations when we researched Tendring.

Not yet confirmed

We could not settle these points when we researched Tendring on 14 October 2026. Check them with the council before you rely on them.

Not yet confirmed
The HMO licence fee (£878 plus £25 per room over six) comes from the September 2024 HMO Policy; no current fee schedule was found on the council website. Confirm the 2026/27 fee with the council (pshousing@tendringdc.gov.uk, 01255 686617).
Not yet confirmed
No civil penalty policy updated for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 was found. The council's housing policies page lists the July 2024 policy with a review date of April 2027.
Not yet confirmed
No selective or additional licensing scheme, consultation or proposal was found on the council website, its consultations page, or (via web search) its committee papers since 2015. The tdcdemocracy committee site was not searched directly.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Tendring is in East of England, where registration is planned from 15 January 2027 to 14 April 2027. The regulations are still in draft. Read about the register