Selective licensing in Wales: why there is none

· 6 min read

An English landlord buying in Wales asks a reasonable question: which Welsh councils operate selective licensing? The answer is unusual enough to be worth a page.

What our records say

Across the 22 Welsh councils we track, we have confirmed 0 selective licensing schemes. Not a small number — none.

Now the honest part, because it matters more than the headline. "We have confirmed none" is not the same as "there are none." Of those 22 councils:

  • a small number are recorded as evidenced negatives — we read the council’s own material and it says no selective scheme applies;
  • for the rest we have not established a position, and their pages say exactly that rather than rendering a negative.

An absence of information is not evidence of absence. A list that quietly reports "no scheme" for a council nobody checked is how a landlord ends up letting unlicensed, and we will not publish one. Check your council’s own page before relying on this.

Why Wales looks like this

Selective licensing under section 80 of the Housing Act 2004 is legally available in Wales — the Act extends to England and Wales, and nothing repealed it for Welsh councils. So the absence is a matter of practice, not of power.

The most plausible reason is that Wales already has the thing selective licensing was invented to deliver. Selective licensing exists to bring ordinary private lets, not just HMOs, under a registration-and-fit-person regime in a defined area. Since 2015, Rent Smart Wales has done that nationally: every landlord registered, every self-managing landlord licensed and trained, for the whole country rather than a designated ward.

A Welsh council considering selective licensing would be adding a local scheme on top of a national one that already registers the same landlords. English councils have no such national scheme, which is why they keep designating.

What to check instead

  1. Rent Smart Wales — registration for every landlord, plus a licence if you manage the property yourself. Not optional and not local.
  2. Additional HMO licensing — 9 of the 22 Welsh councils operate one, which is a far higher rate than England. See HMO licensing in Wales.
  3. Mandatory HMO licensing — national, five or more occupiers in two or more households.

The practical consequence: an English landlord who checks "is there selective licensing here?" and stops has asked the wrong question in Wales. The regime that will catch them is Rent Smart Wales, and it applies from day one everywhere.

If a Welsh council does designate

It would be made under the same section 80 and follow the same shape as an English one — a defined area, a fixed duration of up to five years, consultation before designation. How to read a designation notice applies unchanged, and our weekly checks would pick it up.

Check your Welsh council’s actual position. Each of the 22 has a page with what we hold and what we have not established. Browse the database.

Try the tool. The licence fee lookup covers Welsh authorities alongside English ones, with each council’s own published fee and the date we verified it.

Information tool, not legal advice.

Common questions

Does any Welsh council operate selective licensing?

We have confirmed none across the 22 Welsh councils we track. That is not the same as proving there are none: a few are recorded as evidenced negatives, and for the rest we have not established a position and say so on their pages. Check your council's page before relying on it.

Is selective licensing even legal in Wales?

Yes. Section 80 of the Housing Act 2004 extends to England and Wales and was not repealed for Welsh councils. The absence is a matter of practice, not of power.

Why do Welsh councils not use selective licensing?

Most plausibly because Rent Smart Wales already delivers nationally what selective licensing delivers locally: every landlord registered, every self-managing landlord licensed and trained, across the whole country rather than a designated ward. A Welsh council designating would be layering a local scheme on top of a national one covering the same landlords.

So what licensing do I need in Wales?

Rent Smart Wales registration always, plus a Rent Smart Wales licence if you carry out letting or management work yourself. On top of that, mandatory HMO licensing if five or more occupiers in two or more households, and additional HMO licensing if your council has designated — 9 of the 22 have.

Sources

Figures about our own council records are computed when this page is built, so they cannot drift from the database. Information tool, not legal advice.

Read next

HMO licensing in Wales: mandatory, plus Rent Smart Wales8 min readRent Smart Wales: registration versus licensing7 min readSelective licensing explained: who needs it, how to check7 min readEngland vs Wales: the landlord law divergence map10 min read

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Councils this applies to

Each page carries that council’s own position, with the date we read it.

Landlord HQ uses AI to analyse legislation and tenancy agreements. While we work hard to ensure accuracy, AI can make mistakes. Always verify compliance requirements with a qualified solicitor. Landlord HQ is an information tool, not legal advice.

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