Landlord licensing fees in the North East, council by council

A landlord licence is separate from your letting agent's fee. If your property is in a council's licensing area, the licence is needed for each property, and a licence fee is paid to the council whichever agent you use. This page collects what each North East council says on its own website. We read these pages on 1 and 2 November 2026, and fees change, so check the council's page before you apply.

Newcastle and Gateshead both say a landlord who fails to apply risks a financial penalty of up to £30,000 or prosecution.

Newcastle

Selective licence: £1,000, paid as £300 on application and £700 once the licence is granted.
Additional and mandatory HMO licence: £1,100 (£350, then £750). Mandatory HMO renewal: £1,000 (£300, then £700).
Discounts the council lists: £100 for an EPC rating of A, B or C; £50 if a valid application is made within one month of buying the property (new licences only); £100 for accreditation (mandatory HMO only).
The first payment is not refunded if an application is withdrawn or refused.

Sources: Newcastle fees and charges (PDF, linked from the council's fees page as charged from June 2025; the PDF itself carries no date). Selective licensing covers named areas, not the whole city. The council says smaller shared houses across the city need an additional licence.

Gateshead

Selective licence: £850, paid as £510 on application and £340 later.
Additional HMO licence for three or four sharers in the designated neighbourhoods: £976.30.
Discounts for the selective licence: £75 for accredited landlords, £75 early bird (the second phase early bird period ran from 1 July to 30 September 2025, so it has closed) and £10 off each extra property applied for at the same time.

Sources: Gateshead Council: fees and charges and designation notice. Sixteen neighbourhoods are covered, in two phases running to 2030.

County Durham

Selective licence: £585 in two parts. Without an existing licence it is £200 on application and £385 when the draft licence is issued.
If you already held a selective licence in County Durham on 1 April 2025 and apply for an additional property within 12 weeks of it becoming licensable, the fee is £435 (£165, then £270).
The scheme came into effect on 1 April 2022 and expires on 31 March 2027. The council has also published a news item about reviewing the scheme, so check what applies after that date.
Mandatory HMO licence (five or more people in two or more households): £1,050 for a new licence from 1 April 2026 (£628, then £422), and £999 for a renewal (£577, then £422).

Sources: Durham County Council: selective licensing and multiple occupancy homes.

Stockton

Selective licence application fee: £178 per property (£278 if late), plus an annual fee of £95 per property for each of the 5 years the scheme runs.
Discounts on the annual fee: £50 for accredited landlords, or £75 for those who were members of the council's accreditation scheme or PLuSS by 31 May 2024 (the two cannot be combined). Landlords with two or more properties get £25 off the application fee for each property after the first.

Source: Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council: selective licensing fees. That page does not name the areas or give a start date. The council's cabinet approved selective licensing for Central Stockton, Newtown and Thornaby in May 2024, so check its licensing page for the streets covered.

Middlesbrough

Newport 2: £878, plus a one off £20 fit and proper person test. Licences end on 2 July 2028.
Newport 1 (phase 2): £998. Licences end on 22 July 2029.
The council's page says all licences in North Ormesby ceased on 13 June 2026. Its 2026 to 2027 fees schedule still lists a North Ormesby 2 fee, so ask the council whether a new North Ormesby scheme applies to you.

Sources: Middlesbrough Council: selective landlord licensing and the council's 2026 to 2027 fees and charges schedule, which lists Newport 1 at £998 and Newport 2 at £878.20.

Northumberland and South Tyneside

Northumberland: one selective licensing area, Croft Ward in Blyth, from 14 October 2024 to 13 October 2029. We could not read the fee from the council's pages.
South Tyneside: the council approved a scheme for the Beach Road and Long Streets areas in 2020, but says it is currently paused.

Sources: Northumberland County Council and South Tyneside Council.

Not yet confirmed

We have not yet confirmed licensing fees for Sunderland, North Tyneside or Hartlepool, so we do not list any. Ask the council, and tell us if you have the current figures.

Does your agent charge to handle the licence?

Some agents add their own charge for making a licence application. These are the ones we found on agent fee pages, as listed when we checked:

Bowson: HMO licence application £360
Bailey & Co: HMO or licence application handling surcharge £210 including VAT
Fraser Lake: licence admin £150
Wright Residential: licensing applications £210
FJ Estates: selective licence £180
Lightning Estates: selective licence £120
MyHouse NE Ltd: council licence application £150 plus VAT (shown as £180), renewal £100 plus VAT (shown as £120)

Ask any agent you are considering whether it handles licensing, what it charges and whether the council's fee is on top. See also the other charges to ask about.

This is a summary of what councils publish, not legal advice. Each council's own page is the one to rely on.

Fees change. Always check the agent's own fee page before you sign.