Selective Licensing

North East Lincolnshire Selective Licensing Scheme is located in Grimsby within the ward area of East Marsh and was formally designated on 8 October 2025 and will come into effect on 8 April 2026. This means that property owners who privately rent their properties within the Selective Licensing Scheme area need to apply for a licence.

For further details, please read the Notice of Designation (PDF, 194KB) . A copy of this notice may be inspected at the Reception of Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby DN31 1HU.

Applications for the Selective Licensing Scheme will open from 8 April 2026.

Important notice

It is an offence to operate a tenancy in an area designated for selective licensing without having a licence or without having submitted a duly made application. The council will allow a reasonable period of time, at their discretion, for applicants to submit their applications before taking enforcement action for failure to licence. Please note, it is also an offence for an agent to continue to manage a property without a licence. The scheme will remain in force until 7 April 2031.

Any queries about Selective Licensing should be sent to: [email protected]

About Selective Licensing

If you couldn’t attend the previous online sessions for Selective Licensing, you can now view the presentations from those events.

Selective Licensing is a scheme which requires all private landlords operating within a designated area to license any privately rented property. The scheme was introduced within the Housing Act 2004 (under Part 3, Section 80).

Area of designation lasts for 5 years and will include statutory and general conditions aimed at ensuring licensed properties are safe, meet basic standards and they are managed in a satisfactory way.

To get a licence the landlord or managing agent would have to pay a fee set by us and meet certain standards which affect the way the property is managed.

Areas eligible for selective licensing must have one or more of these issues:

a low demand for houses – with few people wanting to live there
significant and persistent problems with antisocial behaviour
houses that are in a poor condition
high levels of crime
high levels of deprivation

View the Selective Licensing business case (PDF, 3MB)

We believe selective licensing would improve the management of privately rented properties and contribute positively to improving neighbourhoods.

In turn this will:

make more people want to live in the area
increase property values as the area improves
increase the demand for properties, leading to the area becoming a more attractive place to live

make people want to stay in the area for longer
reduce crime and antisocial behaviour
improve sustainability within the areas

cut the length of time houses are empty — increasing the rental income for landlords
increase the professionalism with which privately rented properties are managed

Selective Licensing consultation

We asked you to have your say on a Selective Licensing scheme within the East Marsh area of North East Lincolnshire. Find more information and results on: Past Consultations.

Which type of properties in the designated areas fall under the Selective Licensing Scheme

Selective Licensing is a licensing scheme for landlords who privately rent properties that meet the below criteria and fall within the designated areas for Selective Licensing.

Each individual property you own within the designated areas requires a licence.

A privately rented property could fall under the Selective Licensing Scheme if there is:

One occupant
More than one occupant who forms one household (e.g. a family) or
Two to four unrelated individuals who form two or more households (e.g. two friends).

Exempt properties

Some privately rented properties are not required to hold a Selective Licence and are exempted from Selective Licensing via Housing Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)

Statutory exemptions include:

A body which is registered as a social landlord under Part 1 of the Housing Act 1996
A non profit registered provider of social housing
A profit-making registered provider of social housing in respect of social housing (Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008)
Mandatory HMO’s Licenced Under Part 2
Those Houses subject to temporary exemptions under section 86 Housing Act 2004
Those where there is a Management Order in place (Chapter 1,2 or Part 4)
Specified Exemptions via an order: The Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006

Specified Exemptions by Order

House subject to a Prohibition Order whose operation has not been suspended

Housing Act 1988 Tenancies below:

(i)paragraph 4 (business tenancies)

(ii)paragraph 5 (licensed premises) via Licensing Act 2003

(iii)paragraph 6 (tenancies of agricultural land); or

(iv)paragraph 7 (tenancies of agricultural holdings etc)

A tenancy or licence of a house or a dwelling that is managed or controlled by —

(i)a local housing authority

(ii)a police authority established under section 3 of the Police Act 1996

(iii)the Metropolitan Police Authority established under section 5B of the Police Act 1996

(iv)a fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 ; or

(v)a health service body within the meaning of section 4 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.

Exempted HMO’s: Buildings regulated otherwise than under this Act Housing Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk) Buildings Occupied by Students where the Student accommodation managed under the approved Code of Practice here: The Housing (Approval of Code of Management Practice) (Student Accommodation) (England) Order 2022

Tenancy over 21 years

a tenancy of a house or a dwelling where—

(i)the full term of the tenancy is more than 21 years

(ii)the lease does not contain a provision enabling the landlord to determine the tenancy, other than by forfeiture, earlier than at end of the term; and

(iii)the house or dwelling is occupied by a person to whom the tenancy was granted or his successor in title or any members of such person’s family.

Tenancy Family Members

a tenancy or licence of a house or a dwelling granted by a person to a person who is a member of his family where—

(i)the person to whom the tenancy or licence is granted occupies the house or dwelling as his only or main residence

(ii)the person granting the tenancy or licence is the freeholder or the holder of a lease of the house or dwelling the full term of which is more than 21 years; and

(iii)the lease referred to in sub-paragraph (ii) does not contain a provision enabling the landlord to determine the tenancy, other than by forfeiture, earlier than at end of the term.

A tenancy or licence that is granted to a person in relation to his occupancy of a house or a dwelling as a holiday home.

Tenancy shared with Landlord

a tenancy or licence under the terms of which the occupier shares any accommodation with the landlord or licensor or a member of the landlord’s or licensor’s family.

Mandatory Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence

If you own an HMO containing five or more persons, you must hold a Mandatory HMO Licence.

If you already have a Mandatory HMO Licence, you do not need to apply for a Selective Licence.

If you own an HMO containing three or four persons, which is inside the Selective Licensing designation area, you are required to hold a Selective Licence.

Who can hold a license

For every licence there must be a named licence holder. We have a duty to grant a licence to the most appropriate person. In most circumstances, this would be the owner of the property. In some circumstances however, it may be a leaseholder or a manager / managing agent. It is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that an application for a licence is made for their property.

The proposed licence holder must have the power to:

Collect rental income
Set up and terminate tenancies
Access all parts of the dwelling
Authorise repairs and maintenance to the property.

If the owner nominates a managing agent to be the proposed licence holder, they must have the power to undertake the listed conditions above. The licence holder will be bound by the licence conditions and should be competent.

Licences are not transferable. Therefore, if the licence holder needs to be changed, a new licence application and fee payment will be required.

If the proposed licence holder is not available to manage the property, it is advisable to appoint a local manager who is authorised to deal with emergency repairs and any issues concerning antisocial behaviour. If a company applies to be licence holder, they must nominate an appropriate person to hold the licence within that company. The named licence holder will be the person responsible for complying with all the licence conditions.

Civil penalties

It is an offence to rent a property in a designated area without applying for a Selective Licence. Landlords with unlicensed rented properties can face a financial penalty notice of up to £30,000 or an unlimited fine from the court. Landlords could also be ordered to repay up to 12 months’ rent.

Questions about Selective Licensing

The Local Authority has to follow mandatory conditions laid down in legislation for selective licensing and cannot make improvements directly to the property as provided by case law. Brown v Hyndburn BC. It can however ensure the property is free of any hazards and the property meets the decency standards. It may also include such conditions that allow the Council to meet the objectives of the scheme.

View the Selective Licensing conditions.

No, the Borough does not have a current Selective Licensing scheme. In January 2020, the Council commenced consultation to implement a similar scheme, however this was paused due to Covid-19.

Based on other existing schemes, for example Leeds, 85% of properties licenced did not meet current legislative standards. In these cases, landlords were required to complete works to improve the property and meet their licence conditions. So yes, the scheme should see an improvement in property conditions.

Traditionally people have not come forward to seek help with their properties and there has been a lack of action by some landlords and managing agents to repair their homes. By getting into licensed homes, we have been able to address poor housing conditions and landlords who have failed to provide good accommodation and support the wider needs of people we have visited.

As part of a proposed partnership approach to address issues in the area. Landlord will be required to request references. If the tenant has a poor reference, support can be provided to ensure properties are let and families are not at risk of homelessness by the scheme. This could include housing related support, to help families with complex issues to pay rent, pay bills and also maintain a home.