Birmingham Council Is Moving To Data-Led Enforcement
Property Licensing Guide for Birmingham
Birmingham currently operates selective licensing in 25 wards and additional licensing in 69 wards; mandatory HMO licensing applies everywhere. Last checked: 20 October 2026.
This free guide will provide you with the key details regarding what licensing requirements are necessary in this area and how to apply for a licence.
New to this? Read our overview: What is selective licensing?
Birmingham is in the West Midlands registration window for the PRS database, which opens on 15 December 2026: see when landlords in the West Midlands have to register on the PRS database.
Birmingham Property Licensing Schemes
To check whether a Birmingham property is licensed, search the council’s property licensing public register. It lists current mandatory, additional and selective licences.
Is manual compliance causing a headache for your agency? At Kamma, we specialise in automating licensing compliance for agents across the UK. If you need any assistance in getting your property portfolio compliant, find out how we can help letting agents here.
Not sure whether a Birmingham property needs a licence? Kamma's free checker covers selective, additional and HMO schemes.
Check a Birmingham property →What are the licensing requirements for Birmingham?
Mandatory licensing in Birmingham
Mandatory HMO licensing applies across Birmingham (and all of England) to larger HMOs. These are properties occupied by five or more people forming more than one household, including:
- Shared houses and flats occupied by students and young professionals.
- Properties converted into bedsits with some shared facilities.
- Properties converted into a mix of self-contained and non-self-contained accommodation.
Do I need an additional property licence in Birmingham?
Additional licensing requires smaller HMOs in a designated area to be licensed. That means a privately rented property with three or more people forming more than one household.
Birmingham operates additional HMO licensing. The current designation is set out below.
Do I need a selective licence in Birmingham?
Selective licensing requires almost all privately rented properties in a designated area to be licensed, regardless of the number of occupants.
Birmingham operates selective licensing. The current designation is set out below.
Additional licensing: 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028, covering Acocks Green, Allens Cross, Alum Rock, Aston, Balsall Heath West, Bartley Green, Billesley, Birchfield, Bordesley & Highgate, Bordesley Green, Bournbrook & Selly Park, Bournville & Cotteridge, Brandwood & King’s Heath, Bromford & Hodge Hill, Castle Vale, Druids Heath & Monyhull, Edgbaston, Erdington, Frankley Great Park, Garretts Green, Glebe Farm & Tile Cross, Gravelly Hill, Hall Green North, Hall Green South, Handsworth, Handsworth Wood, Harborne, Heartlands, Highter’s Heath, Holyhead, King’s Norton North, King’s Norton South, Kingstanding, Ladywood, Longbridge & West Heath, Lozells, Moseley, Nechells, Newtown, North Edgbaston, Northfield, Oscott, Perry Barr, Perry Common, Pype Hayes, Quinton, Rubery & Rednal, Shard End, Sheldon, Small Heath, Soho & Jewellery Quarter, South Yardley, Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East, Sparkhill, Stirchley, Stockland Green, Sutton Four Oaks, Sutton Mere Green, Sutton Reddicap, Sutton Roughley, Sutton Trinity, Sutton Vesey, Sutton Walmley & Minworth, Sutton Wylde Green, Tyseley & Hay Mills, Ward End, Weoley & Selly Oak, Yardley East and Yardley West & Stechford.
Selective licensing: 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028, covering Acocks Green, Alum Rock, Aston, Balsall Heath West, Birchfield, Bordesley & Highgate, Bordesley Green, Bournbrook & Selly Park, Edgbaston, Gravelly Hill, Handsworth, Heartlands, Holyhead, Ladywood, Lozells, North Edgbaston, Small Heath, Soho & Jewellery Quarter, South Yardley, Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East, Sparkhill, Stockland Green, Tyseley & Hay Mills, Ward End and Yardley West & Stechford.
Mandatory HMO licensing: in force since 2006 for HMOs of five or more people forming more than one household.
How do I apply for a licence?
You can apply for a licence via Birmingham Council’s website here. Or let Kamma’s expert team process the application for you.
How much does a licence cost?
Licence fees
| Licence | Fee |
|---|---|
| Selective licence | £700 (New application (per property)) |
| Additional HMO licence | £755 per property |
Fees as published by the council, verified 20 July 2026; subject to change. See the council’s fee page for full schedules, payment stages and discounts.
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Birmingham Property Licensing FAQs
What licensing schemes does Birmingham operate?
Birmingham City Council operates selective licensing in 25 wards and additional HMO licensing in all 69 wards, both from 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028. Mandatory HMO licensing also applies citywide to HMOs of five or more people.
Do all properties in Birmingham need a licence?
Not every property in Birmingham needs a licence. Selective licensing, from 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028, covers almost all private lets in 25 wards. Additional licensing covers HMOs with three or four people from two or more households in all 69 wards. Mandatory licensing covers HMOs of five or more people.
What if my property doesn't have a licence?
Letting a property in Birmingham without a required licence can bring civil penalties of up to £40,000 per property for offences on or after 1 May 2026. The landlord also risks a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent. A letting agent who manages the property or collects the rent commits the offence too and can be fined separately.
Can letting agents apply on behalf of landlords?
Yes. Letting agents can apply for Birmingham property licences on behalf of landlords. Birmingham City Council accepts selective, additional and mandatory HMO applications through its licensing pages, and many agents manage the full process.
How do I apply for a Birmingham property licence?
Apply through Birmingham City Council’s licensing pages. The selective fee is £700 and the additional HMO fee is £755. Kamma also offers a managed application service.
Why did Birmingham introduce selective licensing?
Birmingham City Council introduced selective licensing on 5 June 2023 for 25 wards with a large private rented sector and high deprivation or crime. The aim is to improve housing conditions in those wards.
Why did Birmingham introduce additional licensing?
Additional HMO licensing addresses overcrowding, disrepair and management standards in smaller HMOs not covered by the national mandatory scheme.
What are the conditions to obtain an HMO licence in Birmingham?
Birmingham’s additional HMO licence conditions set standards for fire safety, amenities, room sizes and management (additional licensing conditions). The selective scheme has its own conditions.
About Birmingham
Birmingham has 69 wards. Selective licensing covers 25 of them, from Acocks Green to Yardley West & Stechford, and additional HMO licensing covers all 69. Both run from 5 June 2023 to 4 June 2028. The council chose the selective wards where more than 20% of homes are privately rented and deprivation or crime is high.
Licensing Enforcement in Birmingham
Birmingham Council enforces property licensing across its schemes. Letting a property without the required licence risks prosecution and civil penalties of up to £40,000 per property. The landlord can also face a rent repayment order of up to 24 months’ rent. Where a letting agent manages the property or collects the rent, the agent commits the offence too and can be fined in its own right.
Applying for a property licence in Birmingham
A Birmingham licence application is made to the council on the council’s own form, with the documents that council asks for. Requirements differ between councils and change when a designation changes, which is most of why an application that was correct last year is not necessarily correct now.
Letting agents can have Kamma do it. We prepare and submit mandatory HMO, additional HMO and selective licence applications in Birmingham and in every other UK council area, collect the supporting documents from you or from your landlord, and monitor the application through to approval. The Kamma’s licence application service page sets out what we need and what happens when a council rejects a submission.
Landlords should speak to their letting agent, who can instruct us directly.
Tracking licensing across a managed portfolio
A single Birmingham address can be checked by hand. An agency managing several hundred properties across Birmingham and the boroughs around it cannot work that way, and designations change often enough that a check made last quarter may no longer hold.
Kamma connects to the CRM your agency already works in and reads the address and tenancy fields a licensing determination depends on. The licensing position for each property then sits beside the record your team is already looking at.
Pages covering what Kamma reads from each system and how to connect it are available for Reapit, Street.co.uk, MRI Sales and Lettings, MRI Radar, Apex27, Acquaint CRM, Jupix, iamproperty, SME Professional, Rex Software, SleekTech. Alto and agentOS also integrate. The full list is on the CRM integrations page.
