Postcode-aware scheme detection
Reads the ONS directory, joins the council and surfaces every applicable HMO scheme — mandatory, additional, selective and the layered combinations.
All 296 English councils covered, each sourced from official council pages
Every HMO licence England can ask for,in one ledger.
Foldstead is a postcode-aware HMO licensing tracker for landlords, letting agents and shared-living operators who juggle overlapping council schemes. Enter a postcode — see exactly which council holds the file — and never miss another renewal.
- English councils
- 296
- Pending scheme changes
- 21
- Top civil penalty
- £40k
Coverage
Type a postcode.
See what you actually need.
Mandatory, additional, selective — and the layered combinations that catch most landlords out. Foldstead reads the postcode, joins the council, and lists every applicable deadline, fee and condition in one view.
Live lookup runs against the public ONS directory. We never store the postcode.
Council
Birmingham City Council
- 1
Mandatory HMO
National scheme for HMOs with 5 or more occupants from 2 or more households.
Fee
£1,125
- 2
Additional licensing
Runs June 2023 to June 2028.
Fee
£755
- 3
Selective licensing
Applies in the council’s designated areas. In force since June 2023.
Fee
£700
The postcode lottery
Same national scheme.6× the price.
A mandatory HMO licence costs £440 in Rochford and £2,648 in Bromley. Where your property sits matters more than most landlords expect, so we read every council’s own fee schedule.
- 270
- of 296 councils publish a clear fee
- £1,083
- average mandatory licence fee
- 30
- councils run all three schemes at once
Highest fees we've checked
Lowest fees we've checked
Fees re-checked against each council’s own published schedule. Click a council for its source and any discounts. Before discounts; some councils add charges for extra rooms.
Coverage
All 296 councils covered. Spotted something out of date?
Every English council has a record built from its own published pages, and we keep re-checking them. Councils change fees and schemes without warning, so if something looks wrong for your area, tell us the council and we'll check it first.
I know my postcode — try the live checkerReport a council change
Tell us which council to check next.
Send the council name and what looks wrong. It lands straight in the same inbox we use for everything else.
What you get
A quiet, always-on compliance layer for the operators whose margins depend on staying licensed.
Six modules. One view per property. One inbox per portfolio.
Per-licence expiry countdowns
Stack every renewal on a single dashboard. Five properties, nine licences, one calmly ticking timeline.
Per-scheme document checklist
Gas safety, EPC, EICR, fire risk assessment, floor plans, tenancy paperwork. Tailored to whichever council sits behind the postcode.
Auto-generated application packs
Pre-filled the right way for the right authority. Send the file, not a Friday-morning template scramble.
Scheme-change alerts (21 pending)
Emails you within a day when a council where you own a property opens a consultation or changes its scheme — so you can re-paper before the renewal window closes.
Rent Repayment Order exposure
Per-property RRO estimates so you can price the cost of getting it wrong — and choose which licences to defend first.
Renews & alerts
Ninety days.
Never after ninety days.
Every licence gets a countdown. Every council — whether it’s Liverpool, Birmingham or a small borough entering its first selective designation — gets an email alert within a day of it being announced.
- Mandatory HMO (5+ tenants, 2+HH) — The national baseline. If you’re above the threshold, you’re in scope whether the council says so or not.
- Additional licensing — Smaller HMOs and converted flats in lower-tier councils — the layer most operators under-appreciate.
- Selective licensing — Whole-postcode designations, often 3–5 years and renewed on a fixed rhythm.
12 properties · 18 licences
2 days
EICR · L1
6 days
Fire risk assessment · L3
30 days
Additional licensing · Liverpool
70 days
Selective Q-tranche · Manchester
88 days
Selective Q-tranche · Stockport
Add · 30dSel · 70dSel · 88d
Renters' Rights Act 2025
Hard-wired from day one.
The new Ground 4A prior-notice requirement and the two-tier civil-penalty ladder aren't optional. Foldstead tracks them per-property so the file is ready when the council asks.
- £7,000
- First-breach civil penalty
- Up to £40,000
- Serious / offence-level ceiling
- Ground 4A
- New prior-notice requirement
Coded against the 2025 statutory instrument, kept current.
| Council | Scheme | Mandatory fee | Other scheme fees | Scheme ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | Mandatory + Additional + Selective | £1,125 | Additional £755, Selective £700 | June 2028 |
| Liverpool | Mandatory + Selective | £1,328 | Selective £704 | None published |
| Manchester | Mandatory + Selective | £1,321 | Selective £964 | May 2030 |
| Bristol | Mandatory + Additional + Selective | £1,886 | Additional £1,861, Selective £912 | None published |
Pricing
Per-property pricing that bends to your portfolio.
Pay for the licences you actually hold — not a flat seat fee. Bring two more properties in this quarter and we pro-rate the upgrade the same day.
3–9
portfolios in transition
10–24
growing operators
25–49
serious landlords
50+
multi-region
Get a tailored quoteNo card. No demo gauntlet. We'll send a per-council estimate.
Contact
Ask us about your council.
Send us a postcode and we'll come back with a one-page breakdown of which schemes apply, what expires when, and what the file currently looks like.
support@foldstead.co.ukPrivacy.We hold nothing you don't send us. Postcodes are looked up against the public ONS directory and discarded the moment the council is identified.
Terms.Foldstead is a tracking and reminder tool, not legal advice. Council rules change — we surface what was published and the date we saw it.
We reply within one working day