North East · Council licensing
Landlord licensing in Hartlepool
✓ Hand-verified 21 Aug 2026Beyond mandatory HMO licensing, Hartlepool does not currently operate a selective or additional licensing scheme. Here's the current position.
Required for any HMO let to 5 or more people forming 2+ households who share facilities.
Hartlepool sets this fee under section 63(3) of the Housing Act 2004. Its current charge is not yet recorded here.
The council’s own licensing page carries the charge that applies today — confirm it there before you budget.
Not established is not the same as free.
Hartlepool operates no selective licensing designation currently in force. The documented activity is historic: the 2015 (No.2) designation came into force 6 July 2015 and ceased to have effect 5 July 2020, and the Housing Strategy Action Plan 2019-2024 references evaluating a second designation which has since lapsed. No post-2020 designation ending after 21 August 2026 appears on hartlepool.gov.uk or its committee portal. Distinguished from Stockton-on-Tees and County Durham, both of which do operate live selective schemes, and from Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland. Established 21 Aug 2026.
Hartlepool does not operate an additional licensing scheme. The council's houses in multiple occupation pages set the licensing trigger at five or more people forming more than one household who share at least one bathroom, kitchen or toilet, or who lack one of those amenities — the national mandatory threshold — and describe no scheme reaching smaller shares. A house let to three or four people forming two or more households therefore needs no HMO licence in Hartlepool on that basis.
Common questions
Does Hartlepool have a selective licensing scheme?
No. Hartlepool does not currently operate a selective licensing scheme. Mandatory HMO licensing still applies wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.
Does Hartlepool have an additional HMO licensing scheme?
No. Hartlepool does not currently operate an additional HMO licensing scheme. Mandatory HMO licensing still applies wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.
Do I need an HMO licence in Hartlepool?
A mandatory HMO licence is required anywhere in England and Wales, including Hartlepool, where a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households who share basic amenities. Smaller shared houses may also need a licence where an additional licensing scheme applies.
- Free landlord compliance check — five questions, no account
- Tenancy agreement checker — findings cited to the Act and section
All property licensing in North East →
Source: Hartlepool licensing page →
Every landlord in Hartlepool also needs
A valid Gas Safety certificate (annual), an EICR (every 5 years), a valid EPC, a protected deposit, smoke & CO alarms, the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet, and a current How to Rent guide — plus the new Section 8 possession rules since Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026.
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