Selective licensing in Great Yarmouth
Yes. Great Yarmouth operates a selective licensing scheme. Letting a covered property without a licence risks a civil penalty of up to £30,000, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and the loss of the right to serve a section 21 notice.
What the designation says
Great Yarmouth Borough Council operates a selective licensing scheme that was formally designated on 10 December 2025 and came into force on 1 April 2026. The scheme runs for five years until 31 March 2031. It covers approximately 5,000 properties (around 60% of the borough's private rented sector) across designated parts of four wards: Nelson Ward, Southtown and Cobholm Ward, Central and Northgate Ward, and eight streets in the North Ward. The scheme is the successor to a previous selective licensing scheme that covered Nelson Ward only and ran from 2019 until January 2024 (licensing approximately 1,550 properties). The new scheme covers a substantially larger area and was justified on the basis of poor housing conditions, high levels of deprivation, and above-average levels of private rented sector property in the designated wards. All privately rented residential accommodation within the designated areas must be licensed unless subject to statutory exemption. Properties already licensed under the mandatory HMO regime are exempt. The licence fee is £694 per self-contained unit for a five-year licence (Part A £200 covering processing, Part B £494 payable before the licence is issued). Applications opened 1 April 2026 with a three-month grace period until 30 June 2026 — from 1 July 2026, unlicensed landlords face investigation and significant civil penalties. The scheme is administered by Home Safe Delivery Partners Ltd as the council's appointed delivery partner. Note: the scheme faces a judicial review challenge brought by the Eastern Landlords Association (pre-action letter sent 11 February 2026), but as of April 2026 the scheme remains in force.
What this means for a landlord
A licence must be in place before the property is let, not applied for afterwards. Operating unlicensed in a designated area is a criminal offence: a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and a section 21 notice that cannot be served while the property is unlicensed. Mandatory HMO licensing applies separately and everywhere, wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.
Information tool, not legal advice. Confirm the position with Great Yarmouth before letting.