On 1 October 2017, Greenwich Council introduced a borough wide additional licensing scheme.
On 1 October 2022, Greenwich Council are introducing a new selective licensing scheme.
There is also the mandatory HMO licensing scheme that applies throughout England.
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. Additional licence
The additional licensing scheme came into force on 1 October 2017 and continues for five years until 30 September 2022, unless the council decide to revoke the scheme early or implement a replacement scheme.
It extends licensing to all HMOs in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, so that includes all properties shared by three or more people who are not all related and share facilities.
The council have included ‘section 257 HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats’ in the scheme. These are properties that:
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have been converted into self-contained flats; and
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less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied; and
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the conversion did not comply with the relevant Building Regulations in force at that time and still does not comply.
This is a complex area of law and you may need further advice.
3. Selective licence
Greenwich Council have approved a new selective licensing scheme that will come into force on 1 October 2022 and continue for five years.
You will need a selective licence if your property (house or flat) is let out to a single household or two unrelated sharers and is in parts of Plumstead, Glyndon, Shooters Hill, Woolwich Common and Woolwich Riverside council wards. Once the additional licensing scheme has ended, some HMOs may also need licensing under this scheme.
At present there is no online search facility to check whether your property will need a licence under this scheme. All we could find is a small scale map on page 4 of the draft scheme designation which you can download from the orange ‘More Information’ box on the right side of this webpage.