Census · updated when the data changes
There is no national register of discretionary property licensing. This is a census of all 318 councils in England and Wales, read from the designations themselves rather than from summaries — with the methodology stated and the gaps admitted.
| Region | Councils | With a scheme | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 33 | 28 | 85% |
| Wales | 22 | 10 | 45% |
| East Midlands | 35 | 8 | 23% |
| South East | 64 | 7 | 11% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 | 6 | 75% |
| East of England | 46 | 5 | 11% |
| Greater Manchester | 10 | 4 | 40% |
| West Midlands (met county) | 7 | 4 | 57% |
| Merseyside | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| North East | 7 | 3 | 43% |
| North West | 20 | 2 | 10% |
| South West | 26 | 2 | 8% |
| Tyne and Wear | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| West Midlands | 23 | 2 | 9% |
| West Yorkshire | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| South Yorkshire | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Every position is read from the council's own designation notice — the instrument made under section 56 or section 80 of the Housing Act 2004 — not from a summary, an aggregator or press coverage. Each record carries the source document and the sentence it came from.
We read all 318 councils by hand and found nineteen published positions that were wrong. Of the 122 schemes we assert, forty-two were corrected against their instruments during the revalidation sweep — dates that had been derived rather than read, wards that had drifted, and expiry dates that overstated the designation.
Where a council's summary page contradicts its own designation notice, we record both and follow the notice. Croydon's website said 25 September; its section 80 notice said 1 September. We publish the notice date, and say why.
Where we have not established a position, we say so — 178 councils today. An absence of information is never rendered as “no scheme”. A negative is only published where the council itself states one, which is the case for 41 councils.
Every figure on this page is computed from the database when the page is built. None is typed in. Most recent verification: 5 August 2026.
Read the record. Every council's position, what is changing, or check a specific address.