Landlord licensing in London: every borough’s scheme (2026)

Whether you need a landlord licence in London depends on three things: the borough, the exact address and who lives there. Mandatory HMO licensing covers large shared homes everywhere. Most boroughs add additional licensing for smaller shared homes, and 22 of the 33 areas run selective licensing, which covers ordinary lets to one household in named wards or streets. The tables below set out each council’s position and what it asks for electrically.

Licence or no licence, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector and Social Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 apply to almost every private tenancy in England: the electrics must be inspected and tested at least every five years. The report from that inspection — an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) — is the electrical evidence councils ask for when you apply. Our guide to EICRs for landlords covers the few lettings the rules leave out.

The three types of landlord licence

• Mandatory HMO licensing is national. Since 1 October 2018 it has covered every HMO (house in multiple occupation) with five or more people forming two or more households, however many storeys it has.
• Additional HMO licensing is a council’s own scheme for HMOs outside the mandatory one — usually three or four people from two or more households. Some schemes also take in converted blocks of flats (known as section 257 HMOs); others leave them out.
• Selective licensing covers privately rented homes that aren’t HMOs — a home let to one household or to two sharers — but only in the wards or streets the council has designated.

Councils set the area and dates of their additional and selective schemes, usually for five years at a time, so the map changes often.

Licensing in every London borough

Council schemes checked 24 September 2026. Schemes change — check the council page before you apply. Mandatory HMO licensing applies in every area, so it isn’t repeated below.

Each borough page lists the wards by name, with the scheme dates and the council’s own sources.

How to check whether your home needs a licence

1. Find your borough. Enter the postcode on our areas page and it takes you straight to the right one.
2. Count the people and households. Five or more people from two or more households need a mandatory HMO licence anywhere in London. Three or four from two or more households need an additional licence wherever the council runs a scheme. One household or two sharers need a selective licence if the address is in a designated ward or street.
3. Check the exact address. Use the council link in the table. Hammersmith and Fulham’s selective scheme covers 24 named streets, and Ealing’s selective wards follow the old, pre-May 2022 boundaries, so a ward name alone can mislead.
4. Get your documents ready. Councils ask for safety documents with the application. Newham, for example, won’t let you finish without a current EICR, a gas safety certificate for any gas appliances and an energy performance certificate.

What councils want to see electrically

The 2020 regulations set the baseline, and licensing teams check it when you apply:

• A current EICR. The installation must be inspected and tested at least every five years — sooner if the last report says so. Ealing, Bromley and Hammersmith and Fulham (on its selective streets) ask for a satisfactory report, and Lewisham withdraws applications sent with out-of-date certificates.
• Proof that faults were fixed. A C1 (danger present) or C2 (potentially dangerous) makes a report unsatisfactory. The work must be done within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report says so, and written confirmation from the electrician goes with the report to your tenants and the council within 28 days of finishing. Lambeth’s selective application asks for this proof up front.
• A copy when the council asks. The law gives you 7 days from a written request. Some licence conditions set their own deadlines — Camden 7 days, Hammersmith and Fulham 14 days, Brent 28 days for HMOs.
• More for HMOs. Shared homes can need more than an EICR: Bromley’s HMO standards, for example, also ask for yearly fire alarm and emergency lighting test certificates.

We carry out landlord EICRs and HMO EICRs across London and email you the report as a PDF, ready to upload with your application. See your price and pick a date.

Council by council: the electrical evidence

Schemes changing soon

• Croydon — new selective (14 wards) and borough-wide additional schemes started on 25 September 2026.
• Tower Hamlets — the selective scheme in Weavers, Whitechapel and Spitalfields & Banglatown ended on 30 September 2026; licences already issued stay in force until they expire, and the council is considering a new scheme.
• Greenwich — consultation on extending selective licensing to 18 wards runs until 12 October 2026.
• Barnet — the council consulted until 15 September 2026 on selective licensing in ten wards.
• Harrow — the borough-wide additional scheme ran to 5 August 2026, and the council has consulted on renewing it.
• Islington — selective licensing widens to seven more wards on 23 November 2026.
• Lambeth — the additional HMO scheme is due to end on 8 December 2026.
• Southwark — the additional scheme and the five-ward selective scheme are due to end on 1 March 2027.
• Ealing — the additional scheme and the first selective designation end on 31 March 2027; the council has consulted on a new additional scheme from April 2027.
• Lewisham — the additional scheme runs to 4 April 2027.
• Hammersmith and Fulham — both of its own schemes run until 4 June 2027.

When a scheme is due to end, check the council page for a renewal before you assume no licence is needed.

Book your landlord EICR

If your licence application needs an EICR, or your current report is close to five years old, book the inspection before you apply. We arrange access with your tenant or agent, test every circuit to BS 7671 and explain every code in plain English. A landlord EICR for any flat or house with one fuse board is £90 inc VAT (£75 + VAT); HMO prices are confirmed when you book, and nothing is booked until we call to confirm.

See your price and book, read about our HMO EICR service, or call us on 07500 202010. For the wider rules on shared homes, see our guide to HMO electrical safety.