Selective licensing in Manchester

Yes. Manchester 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.

Legal basis
Housing Act 2004, section 80
Areas covered
Named neighbourhoods, not the whole city. In force 24 May 2025 to 23 May 2030: the Droylsden Road and Scotland Street areas (Miles Platting and Newton Heath), the Heathcote and Sanby Road area and the Northmoor Road area (Longsight), and the Viscount Street and Heald Grove areas (Moss Side). An earlier wave runs 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2027 and includes Trinity (Harpurhey), Ben Street (Clayton and Openshaw) and The Ladders (Gorton and Abbey Hey). Designation is by street rather than by whole ward and more than one scheme is running at once, so check the council's own area list against your exact address rather than relying on the ward name.
Runs until
23 May 2030
Last verified
4 Aug 2026

What the designation says

Manchester City Council operates multiple selective licensing schemes (designated 2017 onwards) across many areas of the city. The current active designations cover approximately 3,900 privately rented properties across multiple wards. Key designations: Scheme 1 (1 May 2022 to 30 April 2027) covers parts of Gorton and Abbey Hey, Harpurhey, Clayton and Openshaw. Scheme 2 (9 August 2023 to 8 August 2028) covers parts of Levenshulme, Moss Side and Whalley Range, Rusholme, The Royals and Longsight. Scheme 3 (24 May 2025 to 23 May 2030, the most recent) covers parts of Cheetham, Crumpsall, Harpurhey, Longsight, Miles Platting and Newton Heath, and Moss Side. The 2025 designation followed Cabinet approval on 24 February 2025 after a 2024 consultation. Since the schemes began in 2017, the council has fully licensed over 3,400 properties and identified more than 1,700 hazards. Selective licence fee starts at £798 (Scheme 3 fee is £964 per licence with discounts for early bird applications). Manchester has approximately 100,000 PRS properties (40% of the total housing stock).

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.

Manchester's own licensing page →

Free compliance audit →Five questions, no sign-up. Every duty that applies to your property, licensing included.Check your tenancy agreement →Unlicensed letting invalidates a section 21 notice. We check the agreement against current law.

Information tool, not legal advice. Confirm the position with Manchester before letting.