Brighton and Hove Council Pauses Selective Licensing in Regency and Central Hove After Legal Challenge
Regency Square, Brighton
Brighton & Hove City Council is pausing the introduction of its selective licensing scheme in the Central Hove and Regency wards, which was planned to go live on 20 October 2026. The council announced the pause on 9 October.
The council says the pause follows a legal challenge, which it now needs to take time to consider. The landlord engagement events that had been planned for the launch of the scheme are also postponed while the review takes place.
Sources: Brighton & Hove City Council news release, 9 October 2026; council news release, 6 July 2026
What the council has announced
In its news release, the council says it is pausing the introduction of the scheme in Central Hove and Regency wards, which was planned to go live on 20 October 2026. It says the pause follows a legal challenge, "which the council now needs to take time to consider".
The council says it "remains fully committed to improving standards in the private rented sector and supporting landlords to provide safe, well-managed homes for residents across Brighton & Hove". It says previous communications about the scheme highlighted its aim of driving improvements in housing conditions and management standards, alongside supporting responsible landlords who already provide good-quality accommodation.
The council says that over recent months it has engaged extensively with landlords and managing agents to explain the proposed scheme and listen to feedback, including a programme of information and question-and-answer sessions ahead of the planned launch. It says the first online event attracted more than 40 landlords and agents.
The release refers only to Central Hove and Regency. It does not mention the four wards where the scheme launched in 2024.
What the Cabinet Member for Housing said
Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
"We remain committed to supporting safe, good-quality housing across the city and to working constructively with landlords, agents and tenants."
"We have decided to pause the introduction of the scheme planned for 20 October while we review the next steps. This will give us time to ensure that any future implementation is built on the strongest possible foundations."
"We are grateful to the many landlords and agents who have engaged with us positively during the development of the scheme. Their feedback and participation will continue to inform our work to raise standards in the private rented sector."
"We recognise the vital role that responsible landlords play in providing homes for local people and we remain committed to working in partnership with them to raise standards across the private rented sector."
Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing
What the council has not said
The council's release leaves several questions open. It does not say:
- who brought the legal challenge, or what it concerns
- how long the review will take
- when the scheme in Central Hove and Regency might now be introduced
- what the pause means for licence applications, which the council's designation notice said would be made available online on 20 October 2026
- when the postponed landlord engagement events will be rescheduled
The council says it will review the next steps, and Councillor Williams says any future implementation will be "built on the strongest possible foundations". ImJustBrighton will update this article if the council publishes more.
What was planned for Regency and Central Hove
We reported in July that the council had published designation notices for the Regency and Central Hove wards on Monday 6 July 2026. The council said it was expanding the scheme after a positive impact in the first four wards: Kemptown, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean, Queens Park, and Whitehawk & Brighton Marina, where it launched in 2024.
The council's designation notice, made under section 80(1) of the Housing Act 2004 (see section 80 on legislation.gov.uk), said the designation would come into force on 20 October 2026. It would cease to have effect at midnight on 19 October 2031, or earlier if the council revoked it under section 84.
In July the council estimated that up to 7,274 properties across the two wards would need a licence. It said it had previously approved a rollout to 13 areas of the city in phases, and that a full review of the initial scheme is scheduled for 2029.
How the scheme came about
The scheme goes back to a decision by the council's Housing & New Homes Committee on 13 March 2024. According to the committee report, councillors noted the results of a public consultation that ran from 4 October 2023 to 3 January 2024, and designated four wards for selective licensing from 2 September 2024 for five years. The report says the consultation drew 893 online responses, 62 participants at six stakeholder events and 12 separate written responses.
The report says the four wards were chosen where evidence showed a clear link between poor property conditions, deprivation and private rented homes. It names a Cadence Innova feasibility study from February 2023 and a Meta Street Ltd stock condition report from March 2023 among its background documents. The committee also approved a further option covering 13 wards, which the report says was on the grounds of poor property conditions. It estimated that about 2,100 properties would need a licence in the four wards and about 9,500 in the 13-ward option.
The council's selective licensing page says the scheme in the first four wards, Kemptown, Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, Queens Park, and Whitehawk and Marina, runs from 2 September 2024 to 1 September 2029. It says landlords there need a selective licence if they rent to one occupier, two occupiers, or a family, and that the scheme also covers single-storey properties, such as flats or bungalows, with 3 or 4 unrelated occupiers that are not covered by the Mandatory or Additional HMO schemes.
The report records objections from consultation respondents centred on costs and a shrinking housing supply, including concerns that licence fees could lead to higher rents. It says the council responded that it saw no reason for rents to increase or housing supply to shrink. The council's view in the report was that the scheme is an appropriate and proportionate response to the issues identified.
In July the council described the results of an interim review of the first four wards as a positive impact. Its interim review page is on the council website, but the July news release did not publish figures from the review.
The 13 wards in the original plan
The July release said the council had previously approved a rollout to 13 areas of the city, in phases. The council has not named those areas in its recent releases, but the March 2024 committee report listed the 13 wards of the second phase as:
- Brunswick & Adelaide
- Central Hove
- Goldsmid
- Hanover & Elm Grove
- Hollingdean & Fiveways
- Preston Park
- Regency
- Rottingdean & West Saltdean
- Round Hill
- South Portslade
- West Hill & North Laine
- Westbourne & Poets Corner
- Wish
Regency and Central Hove are the two wards from that list that the council moved to designate in July. The 9 October release refers only to those two wards and does not mention the others.
Who would have needed a licence
Under the planned designation, landlords in the two wards would have needed a selective licence if they rented to one occupier, two occupiers, or a family. The designation was due to apply to any house let or occupied under a tenancy or licence in the area, unless it fell into one of the exemptions in the council's notice:
- a house in multiple occupation (HMO) that needs a Mandatory HMO licence
- an HMO covered by the council's citywide Additional HMO licensing scheme
- a tenancy or licence granted by a registered social landlord
- a house subject to an Interim or Final Management Order
- a house with a temporary exemption
- a tenancy or licence of a type exempted by national regulations, set out in Annex B of the notice
Annex B includes tenancies or licences granted in relation to a holiday home, and those where the occupier shares accommodation with the landlord or the landlord's family.
Fees and licence conditions
The council's selective licence fees page currently lists a standard fee of £711 and a late fee of £807, which is charged when a licensable property has been operated for more than 28 days without a required licence. Part A is paid at application and Part B within 10 working days of approval. The council lists £75 discounts for accredited landlords or agents, for energy efficiency where the EPC rating is C or above, and for registered charity owners or landlords, with a maximum combined discount of £150. The release does not say how the pause affects fees or applications for the two wards.
The council's licence conditions include an annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe engineer, smoke alarms on every storey with living accommodation, carbon monoxide alarms where required, fixed electrical wiring certified at least every five years, a valid Energy Performance Certificate, written tenancy agreements and tenant references. The conditions also say landlords must inspect the property at least every six months and keep records of those inspections.
For landlords who want help with energy efficiency, the council has a separate Energy Performance Grant Scheme for Landlords offering up to £7,500 per property in exchange for a three-year lease to the council.
Penalties set out in the notice
The designation notice said that once the designation came into force, a person operating a licensable property without a licence would be liable to prosecution and, on summary conviction, to an unlimited fine. As an alternative to prosecution, the council could impose a financial penalty of up to £40,000 and/or take management control of the unlicensed property. The notice also said the council or a tenant could apply for a Rent Repayment Order to pay back up to 24 months' rent, Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.
Those provisions were tied to the designation coming into force on 20 October 2026. The council has paused that introduction. The wider national changes under the Renters' Rights Act, which the council said in July came in on 1 May 2026 and gave councils more powers to investigate landlords, are separate from the Central Hove and Regency scheme.
Where to get advice
The designation notice says landlords, managing agents and tenants in the designated area should contact the council's Private Sector Housing team to find out whether a property is affected, and for general advice on licensing and private sector housing.
- Email: psh@brighton-hove.gov.uk
- Phone: 01273 293 156
- Post: Private Sector Housing, Brighton and Hove City Council, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, BN3 3BQ
The notice says the designation may be inspected at that address from 9:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays, by appointment with the Private Sector Housing team.
Sources and further reading
- Council: Notice of Designation of Areas for Selective Licencing 2026
- Council news: Selective licensing scheme expanded after positive impact in first 4 areas (6 July 2026)
- Council: Selective licensing
- Council: Selective licensing scheme interim review
- Housing & New Homes Committee report: Private Sector Housing Discretionary Selective Licensing Scheme (13 March 2024)
- Council: Selective licence fees, discounts, and exemptions
- Council: Selective licensing conditions
- Housing Act 2004, section 80: designation of selective licensing areas
- Housing Act 2004, section 84: duration, review and revocation of designations
This article is based on a Brighton & Hove City Council news release dated 9 October 2026, the council's designation notice and the council's selective licensing web pages. For more on the scheme, see selective licensing on ImJustBrighton, and for more council news, see Brighton & Hove City Council news. Anyone renting privately can also find more in our private renting coverage.
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