Walsall Council is the licensing and planning authority for Brownhills. We confirm the house has the licence and planning status it needs before anything else.
We'll tell you plainly if a house in Brownhills isn't suited to the arrangement you have in mind, and what it would take to make it work.
HMO rules in Walsall Council
| Rule | Walsall Council |
|---|---|
| Mandatory HMO licence (5+ people) | In force everywhere in England |
| Additional HMO licensing | In part of the area Nine wards: Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck and St Matthew's (to 31 August 2027), and Bentley and Darlaston North, Birchills Leamore, Blakenall, Darlaston South and Willenhall South (to 30 June 2028) |
| Selective licensing | None found |
| Article 4 direction for small HMOs | In force Whole borough, since 1 October 2025 |
Checked October 2026 against Walsall Council's HMO licensing page. Schemes change, so we confirm the position for your address before any work starts.
Walsall Council has an Article 4 direction across its whole area, so turning a family house in Brownhills into a small HMO needs planning permission. Before we take a house on, we check it has the planning status it needs. Seven or more occupants always needs planning permission. Walsall Council's additional licensing covers nine wards, including Palfrey, Paddock, Pleck, St Matthew's, Blakenall, Birchills Leamore, Darlaston South and Willenhall South, which doesn't include Brownhills, so the mandatory licence for five or more people is the main one to plan for there.
HMO management in Brownhills: what we do
Our HMO management in Brownhills covers the whole cycle of a shared house: letting rooms, collecting rent, arranging repairs and keeping the licence conditions and certificates in date. We check the local council's licensing scheme for the address before taking a house on, because conditions vary across the West Midlands.
For owners in Brownhills, we can also help with registration on the PRS Database, which is due to open region by region from 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, subject to Parliament approving the regulations. Repairs are handled by our own maintenance team.
- Compliance diary for licence conditions, gas, EICR and alarms
- Regular inspections of rooms and common parts
- Room advertising, viewings, referencing and tenancy set-up
- Management Regulations 2006 duties carried out day to day
- Repairs by our own maintenance team