Gateshead Selective Licensing in Birtley, Deckham, Saltwell and Central: Area-by-Area Guide

Four Neighbourhoods, Two Phases, One Set of Rules

Birtley, Deckham, Saltwell, and Central Gateshead each contain LSOAs designated under the 2025–2030 licensing schemes. The fees, documents, and conditions are identical across all designated areas. What differs is which phase each LSOA falls under and the specific boundary lines that determine whether an individual address needs a licence.

Birtley

Phase: Phase 1 (commenced 1 June 2025, expires 31 May 2030).

Birtley sits in the south of the borough, separated from central Gateshead by several miles. The designated LSOA — Birtley / Birtley Industrial — covers a concentrated area of terraced housing and former colliery housing stock. Not all of Birtley is designated; the LSOA boundary carves out a specific residential cluster rather than covering the entire settlement.

Landlords in Birtley often own properties that were originally built as workers' cottages — small terraced houses with two or three bedrooms, typically let to single-family tenants. These fall under selective licensing at £850 when located in a designated area. The compact size of Birtley properties means they rarely reach the five-occupant threshold for mandatory HMO licensing, but a three-bedroom house let to three unrelated sharers who share amenities in a designated LSOA could trigger additional HMO requirements at £976.30.

The distance from central Gateshead means Birtley landlords sometimes assume their area isn't covered. It is — check the address.

Deckham

Phase: Confirm the phase for each address with the council's address checker; the neighbourhood name alone does not establish a Phase 2 designation.

Deckham lies east of central Gateshead, bordering Felling and Shipcote. The residential streets include a mix of Tyneside flats, terraces, and some purpose-built flats — a housing mix that creates licensing classification questions for landlords.

The Tyneside flat issue is particularly relevant in Deckham. A converted terraced house split into upper and lower flats needs separate licensing for each unit if both are self-contained single-household lets. If the conversion shares access routes or amenities, the building may be classified as an HMO instead. The research report for Gateshead notes that Section 257 converted blocks (buildings where the flat conversion didn't meet 1991 Building Regulations) carry their own licensing obligations on the freeholder, distinct from the individual flat tenancies.

Deckham's proximity to the University of Sunderland's Gateshead-area facilities means some properties house student sharers. Where three or four occupants from two or more households share amenities in a designated LSOA, additional HMO licensing may apply.

Saltwell

Phase: Phase 1 (commenced 1 June 2025, expires 31 May 2030).

Saltwell has licensing history. The earlier Saltwell Ward / The Avenues selective licensing scheme (Phase 3 of the previous designation) expired on 29 April 2025, and the new 2025–2030 scheme replaced it almost immediately. Landlords in Saltwell who held licences under the old scheme needed to reapply under the new designation — the old licences didn't carry over because they were issued under a different statutory instrument.

The housing stock in Saltwell is predominantly Victorian and Edwardian terraces, many of which have been converted into Tyneside flats or HMOs. The high density of private rentals in Saltwell is precisely why the area has been designated under every iteration of Gateshead's licensing schemes.

For Saltwell landlords, the transition from old scheme to new scheme means licence conditions are broadly familiar, but the fee structure has changed and the designation covers a wider area than the previous street-based boundaries.

Central Gateshead

Phase: Varies by specific LSOA. Some central LSOAs fall under Phase 1, others under Phase 2.

"Central Gateshead" isn't a single LSOA — the town centre area spans multiple statistical units. Parts of central Gateshead overlap with Bensham (Phase 1), Shipcote (Phase 2), and the Sunderland Road corridor (Phase 2). A landlord describing their property as "central Gateshead" could be in any of these, and the phase assignment depends on the exact LSOA.

The central area contains the densest concentration of HMOs in the borough. Properties above commercial premises on the high street, converted Victorian buildings, and purpose-built flat blocks all contribute to a mixed licensing landscape where selective, additional HMO, and mandatory HMO licences sit side by side within a few streets.

Common Thread: Check the Exact Address

The consistent message across all four areas is that neighbourhood names are approximations. The licensing designation follows LSOA boundaries, not common-usage area names. A property "in Birtley" might be inside or outside the designated LSOA. A property described as "in Saltwell" may fall inside or outside the designated LSOA; check the exact address because the boundary may exclude streets at the margins.

Use the council's address checker for every property. Then determine the licence type from occupancy. Then apply before a tenant moves in.

Our Gateshead landlord licensing guide covers the displacement hierarchy and application workflow for all designated areas, with a property tracker designed for landlords with holdings across multiple neighbourhoods and phases.

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