London Selective Licensing in 2026

Selective licensing is a council power under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004. Unlike HMO licensing, it covers every private rented dwelling in a designated area, including single-family houses, flats, and shared houses below the HMO threshold.

The Secretary of State must approve any designation that covers more than 20 percent of the local authority area or more than 20 percent of private rented homes. Several London boroughs have secured borough-wide approval, making them some of the most extensively licensed parts of England.

Boroughs that have run selective licensing in recent years:

• Newham: first borough-wide selective licensing in England, in place since 2013, renewed multiple times
• Waltham Forest: borough-wide selective licensing
• Brent: selective licensing in multiple wards
• Croydon: selective licensing in defined wards
• Tower Hamlets: selective licensing in designated areas
• Barking and Dagenham: selective licensing in defined zones
• Enfield: selective licensing in several wards
• Haringey: selective licensing in defined areas
• Hackney: additional licensing predominates; selective limited

Schemes expire and renew on different timetables. Always check the current designation map on the relevant borough website before letting.

Inside a designated area, you need a selective licence if:

• You let the property under any private residential tenancy
• The property is not already covered by mandatory or additional HMO licensing
• The property is not exempt (such as university-managed student housing or temporary accommodation for the council)

The licence is held in the legal owner's name. Letting agents do not hold their own licences; they manage on behalf of the licensed landlord.

London selective licence fees vary by borough but typically fall between £500 and £900 for a five-year licence. Accredited landlords (LLAS, NRLA, or other recognised schemes) usually get a 10 to 25 percent discount.

The application process:

1. Apply online via the borough's licensing portal
2. Provide proof of ownership, identity, and Right to Rent compliance
3. Submit current EPC, Gas Safety Record, and Electrical Installation Condition Report
4. Pay the application fee
5. The council may inspect the property before granting the licence
6. Licence runs for five years from the date of issue

Processing takes six to twelve weeks. Existing landlords inside a new designation are usually given a transitional window to apply.

Common London-specific conditions include:

• Written tenancy agreement provided to each tenant within 14 days
• Right to Rent checks documented and stored for the duration of the tenancy
• Annual gas safety check with copy provided to tenants
• Electrical Installation Condition Report every five years
• Working smoke alarms on every storey and CO alarms in rooms with fuel-burning appliances
• Documented anti-social behaviour response procedure
• Proper waste management, including provision of bins and instructions to tenants

Boroughs may attach property-specific conditions in response to inspection findings.

Operating without a required selective licence in London exposes you to:

• Civil penalty up to £30,000 per offence
• Criminal prosecution with unlimited fine on conviction
• Rent Repayment Order covering up to 12 months of rent
• Banning order for repeat offences
• Possession claim refused by the County Court

The court can and does refuse Section 8 possession to unlicensed landlords even where the underlying ground (rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, sale) is strong on its facts.