On 1 October 2018, Bexley Council introduced a selective licensing scheme covering part of the borough.
Whilst Bexley Council do not operate an additional licensing scheme, there is also the mandatory HMO licensing scheme that applies borough wide.
We will help you choose the right licence for your property.
1. Mandatory HMO licence
You will need a mandatory HMO licence if your property meets the standard test, self-contained flat test or converted building test HMO definition in section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 and is occupied by five or more people.
But what are these tests and what does this mean in practice? It means you need a licence for any house or flat that is occupied by five or more people who are not all related and live in the property as their main home. For example, it includes:
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Shared houses and flats occupied by students and young professionals;
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Properties converted into bedsits with some shared facilities; and
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Properties converted into a mixture of self-contained and non self-contained accommodation.
Prior to 1 October 2018, the mandatory HMO licensing scheme only applied to properties that were three or more storeys in height, but that restriction has now been lifted.
The government have decided to exclude purpose built self-contained flats within a block comprising three or more self-contained flats from the mandatory HMO licensing scheme. While this will be good news for some landlords, it does make the licensing scheme far more complicated.
To find out more, you can read our free guide to mandatory HMO licensing (here).
2. Selective licence
The selective licensing scheme came into force on 1 October 2018 and is expected to continue for five years.
You will need a selective licence if your property (house or flat) is let out to a single person, couple or single household and is in Thamesmead North, Abbey Wood / Lower Belvedere, Erith and Manor Road areas. The scheme also applies to HMOs in that area that are not already licensed under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme.
If you rent a property to a single household in other parts of the borough, the selective licensing scheme does not apply.
You can view a copy of the scheme designation in the orange ‘More Information’ box on the top right on this page. To check if your property falls within the selective licensing area, you can use the address search tool on the council’s website, available here.