Council leasing by council › Bolton

Let your house to Bolton council

What Bolton offers private landlords who want the council as their tenant or their letting agent, in the council's own words, with the page to apply on.

Yes. Bolton runs "Lease Management Service (private sector leasing) and private landlord schemes".

The Lease Management Service provides accommodation via private sector leasing arrangements with private owners for homeless people referred by Housing Options, usually on 5-year leases at LHA rates with guaranteed income. The council also runs a Bond Board non-cash deposit guarantee. Contact housingservices@bolton.gov.uk or 01204 335218.

SchemeLease Management Service (private sector leasing) and private landlord schemesTypea mix of leasing, guaranteed rent and incentivesTermUsually 5 yearsRentSet at LHA rates, paid quarterly in advanceIncentivesGuaranteed rental income for the term of the lease; no void periods; full tenancy management with no advertising or management fees; safety checks including annual gas safety checks at no cost to you. Private rented support schemes may include possible rent top-up on LHA rates, help with bonds, deposits and advice on insurance schemes, and support from a housing navigatorWhat they wantProperties in the Bolton area to lease; we may not be recruiting certain property types at this timeCouncil pagewww.bolton.gov.uk/private-rented-owner-occupied-housing/private-landloChecked2026-09-28

New: How council schemes compare, what you give up, and a ready-to-send email to your council

How these schemes work

Councils have a duty to house people they accept as homeless and a shortage of their own stock, so many lease or manage private landlords' houses instead. The common shapes are a lease of three to five years where the council becomes your tenant and pays rent whether the house is occupied or not, a management arrangement where the council lets and looks after it for you, or a one-off incentive (a cash payment, a deposit guarantee, rent in advance) for taking a council-nominated tenant on a normal tenancy. Terms, rent levels and what they want vary by council and change with demand, so treat every page here as a pointer to the council's own page, not a quote.

Before you sign

Check the same things you would for any let: whether the address is inside an HMO Article 4 area if the council plans to house more than one household, which licensing applies, and what the LHA rate is, since many schemes pay at or just under it. The free HMO Article 4 checker tests any postcode; Kerbio shows all three on the Rightmove listing before you buy.

See this on every Rightmove listing.Kerbio puts the Article 4 answer, licensing, the council's HMO register and sold prices on the Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket page itself. Free for 7 days, then £39 a month.

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Source: Bolton council, read 2026-09-28. Schemes open and close with demand; confirm with the council before relying on any figure.