Lettance
← East of England

Council licensing in East of England

Licensing in Three Rivers

Three Rivers has no selective or additional licensing scheme in force.

Checked 14 Oct 2026

Check an address in Three Rivers

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 only13

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
None found
Consultation
Awaiting decision

Licensing schemes

  • Mandatory HMO licence

    In force

    Mandatory HMO licensing (national scheme, Three Rivers fees)

    Area

    The whole of Three Rivers District (national scheme).

    Fee

    £1,032 for 5 years

    From the council's Fees and Charges 2026/27 schedule (Appendix 1, 'Discretionary and Locally Set from 12 January 2026', presented to Policy and Resources Committee on 1 December 2025 and Full Council on 9 December 2025): new HMO licence, 'Licence granted for 5 years', flat rate £1,032 (up from £1,000); renewal £774 (up from £750). VAT exempt. The council's HMO page does not state the fee.

    Who needs one
    HMOs occupied by 5 or more people forming 2 or more separate households who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom.
    Exemptions
    Statutory exemptions under Schedule 14 of the Housing Act 2004.
    Apply on the council's website
    How we checked this

    This is the national scheme. Three Rivers publishes its own HMO page and an HMO Licensing Policy approved by the Policy and Resources Committee on 29 June 2026. Applications are made through the council's online contact form (the 'apply' link above) or its Customer Services Centre, and must include a DBS check dated within the last 6 months. Under the policy, immediate neighbours, ward, county and parish councillors and the council's anti-social behaviour team are notified of HMO licence applications and may comment on possible extra conditions, and addresses of pending applications are published. Licences are normally granted for up to five years, and shorter where improvements are needed, management is uncertain or the landlord has a poor compliance history. The policy says that 'Three Rivers District Council does not operate an Additional Licensing scheme' and 'does not operate a Selective Licensing scheme'. On 26 January 2026 the Policy and Resources Committee resolved that, based on current evidence, additional licensing for HMOs is not progressed but will be reviewed in 12 months.

    Sources

Article 4 for house shares

We found no Article 4 direction on house shares in Three Rivers.

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 'Civil Penalty Notice Policy' dated 13 February 2026 covers civil penalties under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation, using the MHCLG statutory starting points. Failure to obtain an HMO licence (s.72(1)) starts at £17,000, with a 20% landlord-type adjustment (£13,600 down, £20,400 up) and a statutory maximum of £40,000, before mitigating and aggravating factors. A 15% discount applies if the penalty is paid in full within the period in the final notice (normally 28 days). The HMO licensing policy (approved 29 June 2026) still refers to civil penalties of up to £30,000; the council's HMO page mentions only 'a significant civil penalty'.

Three Rivers's civil penalty policy

Consultations

Not yet confirmed

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

  • Not yet confirmed

    Whether the council will confirm the 16 June 2026 HMO Article 4 direction (and so whether it takes effect on 17 June 2027). No confirmation decision was found.

  • Not yet confirmed

    The Policy and Resources Committee agreed on 26 January 2026 to review additional HMO licensing again in 12 months (around January 2027).

  • Not yet confirmed

    The 2026/27 HMO fee comes from the fees schedule presented to committee in December 2025; the council's HMO page does not state the fee. Confirm that the £1,032 fee was adopted as proposed.

  • Not yet confirmed

    No published HMO licence conditions document was found.

Landlord register

The national landlord register is separate from licensing. Three Rivers 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