Fire Risk Assessment in Oadby & Wigston
Fire risk assessments for rented terraces, shared houses, student lets and flats above shops across Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston. Most premises cost £200 to £500. If your rental sits inside the Wigston selective licensing area, a fire risk assessment is on the list of documents Oadby & Wigston wants, even for a house let to one family.
Updated October 2026
Is my Wigston rental inside the selective area?
Like Leicester and Loughborough, Oadby & Wigston licenses some family lets, not just shared houses. Its scheme covers a block of streets in Wigston and South Wigston. Work through these four checks in order.
| Check | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Is the street on the council’s Annex B street list? It names 181 streets, from Abington Close to Wright Place | Go to check 2 | No selective licence. Oadby addresses, including the roads round the student village, are outside the scheme |
| 2. Is the street only partly covered? Cleveland Road is listed “up to 44”, and the list gives no house numbers for any other street. For a long road, check the line on the Annex A map | Find your house number on the map. If in doubt, ask the council on 0116 288 8961 | Go to check 3 |
| 3. Is the house privately rented? Owner-occupied, housing association and council homes are not covered | Go to check 4 | No selective licence |
| 4. Are there 5 or more occupants, making up at least 2 households? | It needs a mandatory HMO licence instead (£1,000 standard) | It needs a selective licence. £850 standard, but £1,150 for most applications made after 10 November 2025, unless you bought or first let the house after that date. The application asks for a fire risk assessment |
How the rules compare with Leicester and Charnwood
| Oadby & Wigston | Leicester city | Charnwood (Loughborough, Syston) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 or more sharers | Mandatory HMO licence. £1,000 standard (£550 + £450), £900 accredited, £850 accredited with more than one licensed property | Mandatory HMO licence, £900 | Mandatory HMO licence, £700 (£395 + £305) |
| 3 or 4 sharers | No HMO licence. Inside the Wigston selective area, a privately rented house is covered by the selective scheme | Licensed only where a selective area applies | Additional HMO licence across the whole borough |
| Selective licensing | Part of Wigston and South Wigston. £850 standard, £600 to £1,150 depending on discounts and lateness | Parts of Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields, Fosse, Westcotes, Stoneygate and Saffron. £1,290 | Parts of the former Lemyngton and Hastings wards of Loughborough |
| Scheme dates | From 10 November 2025, for five years | Started October 2022, due for review October 2027 | Borough-wide additional scheme until 31 March 2028 |
| Fire paperwork with the application | Fire risk assessment for both HMO and selective licences. The council offers a template | Fire risk assessment “if applicable”, plus alarm and emergency lighting test certificates | Fire risk assessment with an HMO licence application |
Sources: Oadby & Wigston Borough Council selective licensing scheme, Annex B street list, Annex A map and HMO page; Leicester City Council HMO, selective licensing and information for landlords pages; Charnwood Borough Council additional licensing notice, licence fees, selective licensing and HMO FAQs. Checked September and October 2026.
What assessors find in Oadby & Wigston buildings
South Wigston’s red-brick terraces
South Wigston was laid out from 1883 on a grid of terraced streets, built largely from the bricks of Orson Wright’s Wigston Junction Brick Works. Streets such as Countesthorpe Road, Irlam Street, Kirkdale Road and Leopold Street are all on the selective list. In a shared terrace the assessor checks whether the stair can be reached without crossing the kitchen or living room, whether the alarms are linked, and whether a rear extension has left a bedroom with no safe way out.
Shops with flats above on Blaby Road
Blaby Road is South Wigston’s main street, and much of it dates from the 1880s and 1890s. The Wigston Historical Society records numbers 50 to 64 and 69 to 99 as mixed residential and commercial today: shops below, living space above. Here the questions are whether the flat has its own entrance or shares a back door and passage with the shop, and whether the floor between them still holds back smoke after a century of new pipes and cables.
Old Wigston and the framework knitters
Wigston Magna was a framework knitting village. The two-storey stocking workshop behind 44 Bushloe End is Grade II* listed, and Bushloe End itself is on the selective street list, alongside Bull Head Street, Long Street and Moat Street in the old centre. In a listed building, new doors or alarm cable can need consent, so a good assessment offers options rather than one fix.
Edwardian villas and student lets in Oadby
The University of Leicester’s Oadby Student Village sits off London Road and Stoughton Drive South. Its halls mix rescued Edwardian villas with later blocks such as Stamford Hall (1964), and the university looks after them itself. The private shared houses in nearby streets sit outside the selective area, so a house for three or four students needs no licence, but the shared kitchen, hall and stairs still need a written assessment.
Converted hotels and factories
South Wigston grew around hosiery, footwear and biscuit factories, and some of its big Victorian buildings have changed use. The 1880s Grand Hotel is now apartments. Where a building has been split up this way, the assessor checks that new flat walls reach the floor above and that every hole cut for services was sealed.
Sources: South Wigston; Wigston Historical Society, South Wigston buildings; British Listed Buildings, workshop to rear of 44 Bushloe End; Knitting Together, Wigston framework knitters; University of Leicester Oadby accommodation, Oadby Student Village map and student housing history; Oadby & Wigston Annex B street list. Checked October 2026.
Questions Wigston and Oadby landlords ask
“Has anyone got fire risk assessment done or given written instructions?”A landlord applying for a selective licence, writing to OpenRent Community, June 2025
Wigston landlords meet the same question on the council’s form. Oadby & Wigston lists a fire risk assessment among the documents for a selective licence, and anything not sent with the application has to follow within one month. The council publishes a blank template. For a small house let to one family, a careful landlord can fill that in. For a shared house, a flat above a shop or a converted building, get a competent assessor’s report, because it will be judged against the Fire Safety Order, not the form.
“Could you please advise how many students would be permitted to live in the property?”A prospective landlord planning a three-bedroom student let, writing to OpenRent Community, June 2026
In Oadby, the council’s amenity and space standard sets how many people each room can hold. Licensing sets the paperwork: five or more students from more than one household need a mandatory HMO licence, while three or four need none outside the Wigston selective area. Once three or more unrelated people share, their kitchen, hall and stairs come under the fire safety order and the assessment must be written down.
Sources: OpenRent Community, 17 June 2025; OpenRent Community, 9 June 2026; Oadby & Wigston amenity and space standard and fire risk assessment template.
What the first Wigston scheme found
This is South Wigston’s second round of licensing. The first scheme ran from May 2020 to May 2025 across South Wigston ward. Its September 2025 review counted 895 applications, 788 active licences at the end and 538 inspections, about 68% of properties. A written fire safety risk assessment was a licence condition, and five unlicensed landlords were fined £15,000 in total.
The new scheme is wider. The council’s 2023 report proposed the Blaby Road area of South Wigston plus parts of Wigston All Saints, Wigston St Wolstan’s and Wigston Fields, about 16.4% of the borough’s area and up to about 1,000 homes. Warwick Road, now on the street list, is where a 51-year-old man died after a house fire on 19 March 2017.
Sources: Oadby & Wigston, Review of Selective Licensing Scheme 2020 to 2025 (18 September 2025) and consultation plan for the 2025 to 2030 scheme (20 June 2023); Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Serious fires in Melton and Wigston (19 March 2017). Checked October 2026.
Licensing a South Wigston shared terrace, step by step
Four-bedroom terrace let to four sharers, South Wigston
The let: a two-storey Victorian terrace on a street in the selective list, with a single-storey kitchen at the back. Four unrelated tenants each rent a room and share the kitchen, bathroom and hall. The landlord needs a selective licence and has been asked for a fire risk assessment.
Before the visit: the landlord emails the address, a hand-drawn sketch of both floors and pictures of the staircase. The fixed price is £300, which sits in the £250 to £400 band for a 3 to 5 bedroom HMO. Tenants get notice before a date is booked.
In the house: about an hour, covering every room, the alarms, each bedroom door and window, and the meter cupboard under the stair.
Issues: the alarms are battery units and not linked. The kitchen door has been taken off. The front bedroom has a lock that needs a key on the inside. Bikes are kept in the hall.
Fixes in order: high priority for mains-powered, linked smoke alarms with a heat alarm in the kitchen, a thumb-turn lock on the bedroom door and a clear hall; medium priority to rehang a fire-resisting, self-closing kitchen door. Review in 12 months, or when the tenants change.
Report: a written assessment to BS 9792:2025, the housing standard, ready to upload with the selective licence application, each action ranked so the work can be booked in turn.
Areas covered in Oadby & Wigston
Neighbouring Leicester and the wider county are on the home page, and Hinckley and Loughborough have pages of their own. Places from Oadby and Wigston borough.
Oadby & Wigston fire risk assessment questions
How do I know if my rental is in the Wigston selective licensing area?
Look for your street on the council’s Annex B street list, then check the Annex A map if the street is long or only partly covered, such as Cleveland Road, which is listed up to number 44. The scheme covers part of Wigston and South Wigston only. Oadby is outside it.
Do I need a fire risk assessment for a selective licence?
The council lists one among the documents for a selective licence application and offers a template. A house let to one family has no shared parts under the Fire Safety Order, so the template may be enough. A shared house, or a flat with a shared entrance, needs a proper assessment of those shared parts.
What does a selective licence cost in Wigston?
£850 as standard, made up of a £450 application fee and a £400 subsistence fee. Discounts for accredited landlords, more than one property and previous licence holders bring it down to as little as £600. Most applications made after 10 November 2025, and houses the council finds itself, cost £1,150.
Does a student house in Oadby need an HMO licence?
Only once it houses five or more people forming two or more households. A house for three or four students in Oadby needs no licence: Oadby is outside the selective area, and the council’s HMO page lists only mandatory licensing. The shared kitchen, hall and stairs still need a written fire risk assessment, whatever the headcount.
How much does a fire risk assessment cost in Oadby & Wigston?
Most jobs here are rented terraces and student houses, and a 3 to 5 bedroom HMO costs £250 to £400. A Blaby Road shop or small office, with or without a flat above, is £200 to £350. The cost guide sets out what affects a quote.
Do you cover Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston?
Yes, along with Kilby Bridge and the rest of the borough. Your enquiry goes to one qualified local assessor, who gets back to you with a fixed quote. You can also contact us with questions first.
Get an Oadby or Wigston quote
Send the street and postcode, what the property is and who lives there: one family, sharers or students. For a Wigston selective licence, say when the application is due.
More on shared houses in the HMO guide, prices in the cost guide, or call 0116 497 6683.