Census · updated when the data changes
The state of property licensing in England and Wales
There is no national register of discretionary property licensing. This is a census of all 317 councils in England and Wales, read from the designations themselves rather than from summaries — with the methodology stated and the gaps admitted.
The split by scheme type
The regional picture
| Region | Councils | With a scheme | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 33 | 29 | 88% |
| Wales | 22 | 9 | 41% |
| East Midlands | 35 | 8 | 23% |
| South East | 64 | 7 | 11% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 | 6 | 75% |
| East of England | 45 | 5 | 11% |
| Greater Manchester | 10 | 4 | 40% |
| North East | 7 | 4 | 57% |
| West Midlands | 23 | 4 | 17% |
| West Midlands (met county) | 7 | 4 | 57% |
| Merseyside | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| North West | 20 | 2 | 10% |
| South West | 26 | 2 | 8% |
| Tyne and Wear | 5 | 2 | 40% |
| West Yorkshire | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| South Yorkshire | 2 | 0 | 0% |
Methodology, and what it found
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.
61 of the 90 councils where we assert a scheme carry a correction note — a value we held that was changed after reading the instrument itself. 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 — 2 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 225 councils.
Every figure on this page is computed from the database when the page is built. None is typed in. Most recent verification: 6 September 2026.
Read the record. Every council's position, what is changing, or check a specific address.