West Midlands · Council licensing
Landlord licensing in Worcester
✓ Hand-verified 20 Aug 2026Worcester operates discretionary property licensing. Letting an unlicensed property where a scheme applies risks a civil penalty of up to £30,000 and a rent repayment order — check whether your property is covered below.
Required for any HMO let to 5 or more people forming 2+ households who share facilities.
The band is set by how many people live in the property.
| Part A | £996.22 |
| Part B | £625 |
| Total, up to 5 units | £1,621.22 |
| 6 to 8 units | £1,638.73 |
| 9 to 15 units | £1,656.24 |
| 16 to 23 units | £1,691.26 |
- Renewal £1,491.44 at up to 5 units rising to £1,599.59 at 24 and above, same £625.00 Part B throughout
Worcester, read 20 August 2026
Worcester City operates no selective licensing designation under s.80. Its only discretionary scheme is the city-wide additional HMO licensing designation made 21 May 2025 under s.56, in force 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2030. The private sector housing fees page and the self-serve HMO pages present mandatory and additional licensing only; no s.80 designation, public notice or consultation appears on worcester.gov.uk, selfserve.worcester.gov.uk or the committee portal. Worcester's HMO Article 4 planning direction is a planning control, never licensing, and is not treated as evidence of a scheme. Settled negative by absence. Distinguished from Wychavon and Malvern Hills, which jointly state they operate no additional scheme, and from Bromsgrove, Redditch and Worcestershire County Council. Established 20 Aug 2026.
Worcester operates an additional HMO licensing scheme covering the entire city. The council designated the whole of the City of Worcester on 21 May 2025, replacing and widening two earlier designations that between them covered only part of the city: one running from 1 September 2020 over St John, St Clement, Bedwardine, Cathedral and Arboretum, and one from 6 September 2023 over Battenhall, Claines, Gorse Hill, Nunnery, Rainbow Hill, St Peters, St Stephens, Warndon, Warndon Parish North and Warndon Parish South. Both of those ended on 31 August 2025. The current designation came into force on 1 September 2025 and lasts five years, until 31 August 2030. Because the scheme is now city-wide, an address anywhere in Worcester is within it, which is a change from the ward-based schemes that preceded it. Mandatory HMO licensing continues to apply separately wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.
Areas: Entire city. The council states that on 21 May 2025 it designated the whole City of Worcester as subject to Additional Licensing, extended to 2030 by the Communities Committee in January 2025. This SUPERSEDES the earlier 2015-origin scheme and the 2020 to 2025 scheme one, which expired 31 August 2025
The band is set by how many people live in the property.
| Part A | £556.41 |
| Part B | £625 |
| Total, 2 to 4 units | £1,181.41 |
| 5 to 7 units | £1,246.30 |
- Renewal, same structure: 2 to 4 units £433.84 + £625.00 = £1,058.84; 5 to 7 (s257 only) £497.70 + £625.00 = £1,122.70; 8 and above (s257 only) £601.73 + £625.00 = £1,226.73
Worcester, read 20 August 2026
Scheme runs until: 31 August 2030
Common questions
Does Worcester have a selective licensing scheme?
No. Worcester 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 Worcester have an additional HMO licensing scheme?
Yes. Worcester operates an additional HMO licensing scheme. Letting a property covered by it 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.
Do I need an HMO licence in Worcester?
A mandatory HMO licence is required anywhere in England and Wales, including Worcester, 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
Additional HMO licensing in Worcester: areas, dates and fees →
All property licensing in West Midlands →
Source: Worcester licensing page →
Every landlord in Worcester 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.
Check your Worcester property in 30 seconds
Free, no account — see exactly what applies to your property, then let Landlord HQ track every deadline from £9.99/mo.