Medway Council has approved selective licensing for private rented homes in seven wards and an additional HMO licensing scheme in six, with both designations due to start on 4 January 2027.
The council confirmed the decision on 22 September and says the schemes will run until 3 January 2032 unless revoked earlier. The selective designation will require a licence for rented homes occupied by a single household or two unrelated sharers, while the additional scheme captures smaller shared HMOs not already within national mandatory licensing.
Owners of shared homes and single-household lets in the named wards now have a fixed three-month window to establish whether their property falls inside a designation, budget for the licence and gather the documents needed for an application before the January start.
Medway licensing areas and start date
The selective scheme covers Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton, Strood North and Frindsbury, and Watling. It applies to privately rented homes outside the HMO definition in those wards.
The additional HMO scheme covers Chatham Central and Brompton, Fort Pitt, Gillingham North, Gillingham South, Luton and Watling. Medway says it is aimed at shared houses occupied by three or more people forming more than one household, where basic amenities are shared and the property is not already subject to mandatory national HMO licensing.
The distinction is important. A landlord with a smaller shared house in one of the six wards should not assume that avoiding the five-person mandatory HMO threshold removes the need for a licence. The council’s licensing page sets out the affected wards, property definitions and public notices of designation.
Licence fees put costs in focus
The distinction between an approved designation and an invoice is not academic. Telford withdrew a £1,500-plus HMO licensing plan earlier this month, while other councils continue to test the cost and evidence required for local schemes. A designation is not the same thing as an invoice, but it gives affected owners a clear deadline for checking their position.
Medway says the selective scheme is intended to address poor housing conditions in the designated wards. Its additional HMO scheme is framed around safer, better-managed shared accommodation. The council has also published designation maps and consultation material, which are more useful than relying on a postcode description alone when a property sits close to a ward boundary.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s 23 September report on licence fees topping £1,000, which highlighted calls for councils to publish clearer cost information. Medway’s January launch adds a practical local test of that concern: owners have a confirmed start date, but should check the application route, payment terms and evidence list well before the scheme opens.
What landlords should do before January
- If you let in the seven selective-licensing wards: check the designation map and whether the tenancy falls within the scheme, even if the property is not an HMO.
- If you operate a smaller shared house: check whether it has three or more occupiers from more than one household and shares facilities, as the additional HMO designation may apply below the national mandatory threshold.
- Watch for: Medway’s final application guidance, fee information and any early-application arrangements before 4 January 2027.
- Bottom line: the designations are approved, so affected landlords should treat January as a compliance date rather than wait for enforcement activity.
Editor’s view
Local licensing works best when the boundary, cost and purpose are clear before the application deadline arrives. Medway has now settled the first of those questions. The next test is whether its process gives ordinary landlords enough time and clarity to comply without turning a standards scheme into an administrative trap.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 29 September 2026
Sources: Medway Council
Related reading: Propertymark urges licence-fee reporting as costs top £1,000
