Nottingham Selective Licensing Scheme 2 Renewal: What Landlords Need to Know

Scheme 2 at a Glance

Nottingham City Council's Selective Licensing Scheme 2 came into force on 1 December 2023 and runs until 30 November 2028. It replaced the original selective licensing scheme (commonly called Scheme 1) that covered parts of the city from 2018.

Scheme 2 applies to non-HMO privately rented properties — single-household lets, individual tenants, or two unrelated sharers — in designated wards. It does not cover the entire city. Wards like Radford, Hyson Green, St Ann's, Aspley, Bulwell, and Sherwood are included, but properties outside the designated boundaries do not need a selective licence. The council's MyProperty address checker is the definitive tool for confirming whether an address falls inside the designation.

The scheme operates alongside two HMO licensing schemes: Additional HMO Licensing Scheme 3 (citywide, 3–4 person shared houses, expires 31 December 2028) and Mandatory HMO Licensing (citywide, 5+ person HMOs, permanent). A property can only hold one licence type — HMO licensing takes statutory priority over selective licensing.

Renewing Your Individual Licence

Your selective licence has its own expiry date, printed on the licence document the council issues after granting the application. This date cannot extend past the scheme's expiry on 30 November 2028.

Nottingham City Council does not issue statutory renewal reminders. Letting a licence lapse means the property is immediately unlicensed, with enforcement consequences — civil penalties up to £40,000 per offence, prosecution (unlimited fine), and tenant rent repayment orders covering up to 24 months of rent for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026.

To renew:

1. Submit a new application through the council's online licensing portal before your current licence expires
2. Pay the Part A fee on submission (£290 for selective licensing as of April 2026)
3. Provide updated safety certificates — gas safety record, EICR, EPC — and current floor plans
4. The council assesses the application afresh, including a new fit and proper person check
5. Part B is invoiced before the licence is granted (£469 accredited, £660 standard, £1,028 less compliant)

Previous compliance does not carry forward automatically. Even if your first licence term was trouble-free, the renewal is treated as a new application with full documentation requirements.

The accreditation discount still applies on renewal. If your DASH, Unipol, or ANUK accreditation is current, you pay the lower Part B rate — a net saving of £191 over the standard rate on a selective licence.

What Happens When Scheme 2 Expires in 2028

On 30 November 2028, every selective licence granted under Scheme 2 expires automatically. There is no grace period and no rollover.

If the council designates a successor selective licensing scheme, landlords whose properties fall within the new designation must apply for a completely new licence — new application, new fees, new documentation. Nothing transfers from the old scheme.

If the council does not renew, selective licensing ceases in the affected wards. Properties that were previously selectively licensed would no longer need a licence (unless they become HMOs and trigger HMO licensing instead).

The 2024 General Approval, which removed the Secretary of State's 20% area confirmation threshold, means councils no longer need central government permission for large-area schemes. This removes an approval hurdle, but it does not establish whether Nottingham will propose a successor scheme.

The Transition Period Between Schemes

If Scheme 2 ends and a successor selective licensing scheme begins on adjacent dates, there should be no gap. But if the council needs additional time for the statutory consultation, evidence gathering, and designation process, there could be an interim period where selective licensing is not in force in some or all wards.

During any gap between schemes, the property is not selectively licensable and no selective licence is needed. However, HMO licensing (mandatory and additional) continues uninterrupted because those are separate designations.

Landlords should watch for the council's public consultation on any successor scheme — the statutory consultation must last at least 10 weeks. The consultation notice will confirm which wards are proposed for inclusion and any changes to fee structures.

The Nottingham landlord licensing guide includes a renewal tracker that logs both your individual licence expiry and the scheme expiry, along with a timeline for monitoring successor scheme consultations.

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