This year is on course to become the biggest on record for new additional and selective licensing scheme launches.

With 41 new schemes confirmed, 2026 has already matched last year’s record of 42 and is set to surpass it, according to property licensing compliance firm Kamma. These confirmed schemes represent a 78% increase on 2024’s total of 23, underlining a sustained two-year acceleration in the PRS, says the firm, which reports that there are 10 consultations ongoing - eight selective and two additional - across eight councils.

“We would expect a further 12 to 18 designations by the end of the year, although most of them won’t start until 2027,” CEO Orla Shields tells LandlordZONE.

Designations run for five years, so a growing stock of schemes produces a growing floor of renewals, and the total number has jumped from 94 in January 2022 to 174. London is the hotspot, with 28 of 33 boroughs now running a scheme, although the first-time entrants are increasingly outside it, including Gloucester, Reading, Great Yarmouth, Telford and Wrekin and Peterborough.

Driver

“Our own read is that Renters’ Rights Act implementation is the main driver of the new entrants specifically, since it raises what a council is expected to know about its private rented stock while leaving its evidence base unchanged, and licensing fees are ring fenced to fund exactly that work,” adds Shields.

Next year, 36 schemes expire across 24 councils, while historically between 75-91% of expiring schemes are replaced with a fresh designation. Add first-time entrants at the current rate and 2027 looks comparable to this year or a little above it, she explains.

There are currently 107 selective and 67 additional schemes operational across 90 of the 361 councils in England and Wales. Geographically, around a quarter of neighbourhoods sit wholly or partly inside a discretionary scheme, reports Kamma, although less than 6% of the land area, because schemes cluster in dense urban wards rather than spreading evenly.

Propertymark

Propertymark has put a call out to agents and landlords to monitor consultations in their areas and provide evidence on proposed fees, licence conditions, administrative requirements, potential impacts on rental supply and any duplication with the forthcoming PRS Database by emailing [email protected].

It says licensing schemes should have clear objectives, be based on robust local evidence and demonstrate measurable improvements, and that fees and enforcement policies should be transparent and consistent, while councils should have sufficient resources to inspect properties and take action against landlords deliberately operating outside the law.

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