Liverpool vs Sefton Landlord Licensing: Key Differences Explained

Why Landlords Confuse Liverpool and Sefton

Liverpool and Sefton share a boundary and share "L" postcodes. A property in Bootle (L20), Crosby (L23) or Litherland (L21) carries a Liverpool-style postcode but falls under Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council — a completely separate local housing authority with its own licensing designations, fees, conditions and enforcement regime.

Search engines make the confusion worse. Searching for "Liverpool HMO licensing" frequently returns Sefton Council's Additional HMO Licensing scheme pages alongside Liverpool's results. Landlords reading those pages sometimes believe Liverpool operates an additional HMO scheme. It does not.

The Schemes Each Council Runs

Liverpool City Council operates two licensing schemes:

• Selective Licensing — covering 39 of the city's 64 wards (roughly 80% of the private rented sector), in force from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027. Applies to privately rented homes that do not need a mandatory HMO licence, unless a statutory exemption applies.
• Mandatory HMO Licensing — citywide, permanent. Applies to houses occupied by five or more people from two or more households sharing facilities.

Liverpool does not run an Additional HMO Licensing scheme. Small HMOs (three or four unrelated sharers) are caught only if they fall in a selective licensing ward.

Sefton Council operates:

• Additional HMO Licensing — covering specific areas including parts of Bootle and Waterloo. This catches smaller HMOs (three or more people from two or more households) that would not meet the national five-person threshold for mandatory licensing.
• Mandatory HMO Licensing — the same national scheme applying to five-plus-person HMOs, administered locally by Sefton.

For a single-family let in Sefton, check Sefton Council's current licensing rules; Liverpool's selective wards do not apply there.

How to Tell Which Council Covers Your Property

The only reliable method is to check your property's address against the council boundary. "L" postcodes are postal designations — they do not map onto council areas.

For borderline areas, use each council's postcode checker or contact the council directly. Liverpool's checker runs through the LAR portal. Sefton publishes its Additional HMO Licensing boundaries on its own website.

Other neighbouring authorities — Knowsley (Huyton, Prescot, Kirkby), Wirral, St Helens, Halton — also operate independent schemes. An "L" or nearby postcode does not guarantee Liverpool jurisdiction.

Practical Differences That Matter

Fees. Liverpool's selective licence costs £704 at the standard rate, with discounts reducing it to between £321 and £486. Sefton's additional HMO licensing has its own fee structure. The amounts, discount criteria and payment staging are different.

Application portals. Liverpool uses the LAR (Licensing and Regulations) portal. Sefton uses its own online system. An application submitted to the wrong council will not be processed.

HMO coverage. A three-person HMO in a Liverpool selective licensing ward needs a selective licence. The same property in a Sefton Additional HMO area needs an additional HMO licence. The forms, conditions, and inspection regimes are different despite the similar outcome.

Enforcement. Both councils can issue civil penalties up to £40,000 per offence and tenants in both areas can pursue Rent Repayment Orders. But the enforcement teams, inspection schedules and condition sets are run independently.

Landlords With Properties in Both Areas

If you own properties on both sides of the boundary, you are dealing with two separate regulatory systems. A licence held with Liverpool does not cover a Sefton property and vice versa. Each property needs its own application through the correct council's system, with the correct fees paid to the correct authority.

Our Liverpool landlord licensing guide covers the Liverpool side of this in full — the 39 selective wards, the fee tiers, the LAR portal steps and the licence conditions. For Sefton properties, check Sefton Council's licensing pages directly.

See more England guides →