The PRS database in the North West: dates, deadline and licensing
The North West is the sixth of the nine regions to open for registration on the PRS database. Registration opens on 15 May 2027, and every rented property in the region needs an entry by 14 August 2027.
On this page
- When do you have to register in the North West?
- Which councils are in the North West region?
- Which North West councils run selective or additional licensing?
- Do any North West licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
- What are the region’s councils doing as their schemes expire?
- What have North West councils said about the PRS database?
- What should letting agents in the North West do before 15 May?
- Where can you read each council’s licensing rules?
- How much does registration cost, and what do you need to provide?
- What’s changed
- Frequently asked questions
When do you have to register in the North West?
Landlords in the North West must register each rented property between 15 May 2027 and 14 August 2027. The deadline depends on where the property is, not where the landlord or agent is based. A portfolio that spans more than one region has more than one deadline, set out in the national rollout table.
The window is 92 days and contains 64 working days once the spring bank holiday is taken out. It runs through the summer holidays, when the people you need may be away. The deadline falls on a Saturday, so Friday 13 August 2027 is the practical last working day for anything that needs a colleague, a landlord’s reply or a council’s answer.
The date to register by is the end of the three-month window the government publishes on the Housing Hub, after which councils in the region can begin enforcement. The draft Regulations fix when each region opens, not a date to register by. The dates were announced by the government (GOV.UK, 9 September 2026).
Which councils are in the North West region?
The North West region has 35 local authorities: the ten of Greater Manchester, the five of Merseyside, the twelve Lancashire districts with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, the four Cheshire and Warrington authorities, and the two Cumbria authorities, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness. A property’s council decides its region. The draft Regulations list the councils in each region (Schedule 1), by the council areas as they stood on 15 December 2026.
| Area | Councils | Licensing beyond mandatory HMO |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Manchester | Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan | Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale and Salford. None in Bolton, Bury, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Bolton is boroughwide additional licensing agreed by Cabinet on 17 August 2026, expected to be operational in early 2027 |
| Merseyside | Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral | Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral. None in Knowsley and St Helens |
| Lancashire | Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Wyre | Blackpool and Burnley. Preston is consulting on selective licensing in three wards since 27 July 2026 |
| Cheshire and Warrington | Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, Warrington | None live |
| Cumbria | Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness | None live |
Which North West councils run selective or additional licensing?
Nine of the North West’s 35 local authorities run selective or additional licensing on Kamma’s data at 6 October 2026: Blackpool, Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Sefton and Wirral. Between them they hold 33 live designations. The other 26 councils require a licence only for mandatory HMOs, which applies in every council. The region’s licensing is concentrated: Manchester alone holds 20 of the 33 designations, most of them covering part of a single ward, while Liverpool’s single designation covers most of a city.
Selective licensing covers most privately rented homes in a designated area. Additional licensing covers smaller HMOs that the national mandatory rule leaves out. Both matter for the database, because each registration records the property’s licence type and number (what that means for enforcement). Coverage below is as recorded in our data, grouped by council, scheme type and end date; check the council’s own map before relying on a specific street.
| Council | Scheme | Designations | Runs to | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | Selective | 1 designation | 31 March 2030 | 3 wards, and parts of 5 more |
| Burnley | Selective | 2 designations | 20 July 2027 | Parts of 3 wards: Bank Hall, Rosehill with Burnley Wood, Trinity |
| Burnley | Selective | 1 designation | 26 April 2030 | Parts of 10 wards |
| Liverpool | Selective | 1 designation | 31 March 2027 | 28 wards, and parts of 13 more |
| Manchester | Selective | 5 designations | 30 April 2027 | Parts of 3 wards: Clayton & Openshaw, Gorton & Abbey Hey, Harpurhey |
| Manchester | Selective | 8 designations | 8 August 2028 | Parts of 5 wards |
| Manchester | Selective | 7 designations | 23 May 2030 | Parts of 6 wards |
| Oldham | Selective | 1 designation | 3 July 2027 | Parts of 11 wards |
| Rochdale | Additional | 1 designation | 28 April 2030 | Whole council area |
| Salford | Selective | 1 designation | 31 August 2027 | Parts of 2 wards: Barton & Winton, Eccles |
| Salford | Selective | 1 designation | 20 January 2031 | Parts of 2 wards: Broughton, Kersal & Broughton Park |
| Sefton | Selective | 1 designation | 29 February 2028 | Parts of 3 wards: Derby, Linacre, Litherland |
| Sefton | Additional | 1 designation | 29 February 2028 | Parts of 6 wards |
| Wirral | Selective | 1 designation | 31 March 2029 | Parts of 5 wards |
| Wirral | Selective | 1 designation | 30 September 2030 | Parts of 5 wards |
Dates in bold are schemes that end on or before the registration deadline.
Do any North West licensing schemes start or end during the registration window?
Between 15 May 2027 and 14 August 2027, Oldham’s selective scheme ends on 3 July 2027 and Burnley’s two selective designations end on 20 July 2027. No scheme in our data starts in that period. Schemes also end before registration opens, which matters just as much: Liverpool’s on 31 March 2027 and Manchester’s on 30 April 2027. Just after the deadline, Salford’s selective scheme ends on 31 August 2027.
A licence is still needed while a scheme runs, and a council that wants to continue one must consult and designate again. A new designation is a new licensing obligation with its own licence number, not an extension of the old one, and a registration made before it will need updating (our reading of how the database works, not a council’s statement).
| When | What | Council |
|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2027 | Liverpool's selective licensing ends | Liverpool |
| 30 April 2027 | Manchester's selective licensing ends (five designations) | Manchester |
| 15 May 2027 | Registration opens | |
| 3 July 2027 | Oldham's selective licensing ends | Oldham |
| 20 July 2027 | Burnley's selective licensing ends (two designations) | Burnley |
| 14 August 2027 | Registration deadline | |
| 31 August 2027 | Salford's selective licensing ends | Salford |
What are the region's councils doing as their schemes expire?
Liverpool
Liverpool’s citywide selective scheme runs to 31 March 2027, 45 days before registration opens. The council consulted from 27 July 2026 to 5 October 2026 on three options for a replacement covering 2027 to 2032: all 64 wards, 29 wards chosen on deprivation, or 26 wards chosen on property conditions (council news). We found no decision at the date above. Until the council designates, nobody can say which Liverpool streets will need a licence when the database opens, so a portfolio there cannot be sorted yet.
Manchester
Manchester’s second phase of selective licensing began on 1 May 2022 in four areas and, on the council’s own page, ends on 30 April 2027 (council page); our data holds five designations ending that day. The designations that began in 2023 and 2025 run later, to 23 May 2030 at the latest, so the city has several licensing calendars at once. We found no published decision on what follows the phase two areas.
Oldham and Burnley
Oldham’s selective scheme ends on 3 July 2027, seven weeks into the registration window. Burnley’s two designations from 2022 end on 20 July 2027. Burnley has said what comes next: a consultation from 3 August 2026 to 18 October 2026 on redesignating two existing areas and adding a third around Lyndhurst Road (council page). Councillor Howard Baker said: “Everyone deserves to live in a safe, well-managed and good quality home.” We found no consultation on Oldham’s next step, and that absence is as far as the evidence goes: it is not evidence that Oldham will let the scheme lapse.
Salford, Bolton and Preston
Salford’s older citywide additional scheme ended in July 2026. The council’s page says a new citywide additional scheme for section 257 HMOs starts on 24 November 2026 and runs to 24 November 2031 (council page). Salford’s selective scheme for Eccles and Barton also ends on 31 August 2027, 17 days after the deadline. Bolton’s Cabinet agreed boroughwide additional licensing on 17 August 2026; the council says “nearly all HMOs in Bolton will require a licence to operate legally” and that the scheme should be “fully operational in early 2027” (council news). Preston opened a consultation on selective licensing in three wards on 27 July 2026 (Central Radio). Salford’s new scheme is in our data but starts later, so it is not in the live table. Bolton has not published a designation, and Preston is still consulting.
What have North West councils said about the PRS database?
We read the Renters’ Rights Act guidance pages of Liverpool and Wirral on 6 October 2026 and found neither describing what the council will do with the database once it opens. Liverpool’s landlord page says the Act “gives local authorities stronger enforcement powers” (Liverpool City Council). It does not mention the database. Wirral’s guidance for landlords does not either. That silence is a finding about published guidance and not a finding about intention: the councils that already run licensing schemes have the staff to check a licence number against a register entry, which is why a missing or wrong licence record is the most likely thing for them to query (our inference).
What should letting agents in the North West do before 15 May?
Work out which of your managed properties sit inside a live licensing scheme, and gather each licence number before your landlords are asked for it. Each registration asks for licence type and number under a false-information warning, so a missing or wrong licence record becomes a problem at the point of declaration. Licensing offences on or after 1 May 2026 carry civil penalties of up to £40,000 (Housing Act 2004, s.249A) and rent repayment orders of up to 24 months’ rent.
- Match every managed address to the nine councils above and flag those inside a scheme’s wards
- Record each licence’s number and end date, and diarise the councils whose schemes end before 14 August 2027: Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester and Oldham
- Ask Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham and Burnley landlords now whether the council has designated a replacement, and do not assume the old licence carries across
- Plan the entry work around the summer holidays, using the workload calculator
- Read what you need to gather before invitations start arriving
For the agent’s role in the process, see what a letting agent can and cannot do on the PRS database.
Where can you read each council's licensing rules?
Kamma publishes a licensing guide for each of the nine North West councils with a live scheme. Each guide sets out the scheme, wards covered, fees and how to apply.
How much does registration cost, and what do you need to provide?
Registration costs £65 per property per year, and each entry asks for landlord, property, tenancy and compliance details. The full answers sit in the national guides, so they are not repeated here: see how much the PRS database costs and which information registration asks for.
What's changed
-
Page published. Licensing data checked against council sources on 6 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
The region has 35 local authorities, as listed in Schedule 1 of the draft Regulations. That includes Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire with Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, Warrington, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness. A property’s council decides its region.
On the dates we hold, yes. Liverpool’s selective scheme ends on 31 March 2027 and Manchester’s earliest designations end on 30 April 2027, both before registration opens on 15 May 2027. Liverpool has consulted on a replacement and Manchester has published no decision that we found. Check the council’s page on the day you submit.
Yes, on the dates we hold. Between 15 May 2027 and 14 August 2027, Oldham’s selective scheme ends on 3 July 2027 and Burnley’s two selective designations end on 20 July 2027. A council can also designate a new scheme at any time and must give notice first. Keep your entry up to date if a property becomes licensable or stops being so.
No. The service opens on 15 May 2027 for the North West. The national guide covers early registration and the full rollout.
Find out which of your North West properties are licensable before 15 May.
Get the licensing gaps in your portfolio before your region’s deadline.
