Royal Borough of Greenwich

If you need help understanding the property licensing rules in Greenwich you have come to the right place! We are experts in housing regulation and have produced this free guide to help you understand the council’s property licensing schemes.

If you find that you need a licence for your rented property our support doesn’t end there. Our Landlord Suppliers Directory (view here) lists companies that offer a licence application handling service. You can also find companies offering a wide range of other goods and services to help you manage your property portfolio and achieve compliance.

Licensing Requirements

Do I need a licence to rent out my property?

There are currently three licensing schemes operating in Greenwich. 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:

Shared houses and flats occupied by students and young professionals;
Properties converted into bedsits with some shared facilities; and
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

A new borough wide additional licensing scheme started on 1 January 2024 and will continue for five years. You can find a copy of the public notice in the orange ‘At a Glance’ box on the top right of this webpage.

The additional licensing scheme extends licensing to all HMOs in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, including all properties shared by three or more people who are not all related and share facilities.

To find out more, you can read our free guide to additional licensing (here).

3. Selective licence

Greenwich Council introduced a selective licensing scheme on 1 October 2022 and the scheme will continue for five years. You can find a copy of the public notice in the orange ‘At a Glance’ box on the top right of this webpage.

You 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. Now the additional licensing scheme has ended, some HMOs may also need licensing under this scheme.

There is an online search facility on the council’s website to check whether your property falls within the selective licensing area.

To find out more, you can read our free guide to selective licensing (here).

How much does a licence cost?

It depends on the type of licence you are applying for.

Mandatory HMO and additional licence

The standard HMO licence application fee in Greenwich is £499.88 per habitable room in an HMO. The fee is £2,499.40 for a shared house with five lettings.

The council charge a reduced fee to landlords who are a member of a professional landlord association or accreditation scheme, which we think is a good idea.

Selective licence

The standard selective licence application fee in Greenwich is £858 per property, payable in two instalments.

The council are offering fee discounts to accredited landlords, new build properties, and landlords willing to accept tenants nominated by the council.

The fees are correct as of April 2024 but could be subject to change in the future. You can view the fees on the council’s website.

How do I apply for a licence?

Greenwich Council have an online application and payment system on the council’s website. When you click on the link, there is one application process for HMO licensing and one for selective licensing, so make sure you pick the right option.

We offer a licence application handling service in Greenwich and you can find further information here. Simply complete the online enquiry form to get the process underway.

You can find other companies offering a licence application handling service in our Landlord Suppliers Directory (here).

It is important to remember that submitting a licence application is only the start of the licence approval process. To help landlords understand what happens next, we have published a free guide here.

Are there any standards I need to comply with?

Yes, Greenwich Council have published HMO standards that apply to all licensed HMOs. They provide useful guidance that all HMO landlords need to be aware of. The standards were updated in April 2019 and you can download a copy by visiting the council’s website.

The standards cover a range of issues such as kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities, fire precautions, heating, lighting, ventilation and room sizes.

It is important to note that new absolute minimum bedroom sizes for licensed HMOs have been introduced for HMO licence applications approved on or after 1 October 2018:

4.64m2 for a child under 10 years old
6.51m2 for one person over 10 years old
10.22m2 for two people over 10 years old

The council can still ask for larger minimum sizes. These new minimum sizes will apply throughout England to HMOs licensed under a mandatory HMO or additional licensing scheme.

How many properties has the Council licensed?

In September 2021, there were 1245 licensed HMOs listed in the public register on Greenwich Council’s website. It didn’t break down the figure between the two HMO licensing schemes.

The council keeps a public register of licensed HMOs that is regularly updated and can be viewed online.

Are there lots of unlicensed properties still out there?

In May 2019, Greenwich Council told us they think about 2,250 properties need to be licensed under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme and a further 7,500 properties need to be licensed under the additional licensing scheme.

The council estimate that a further 4,400 properties need licensing under the new selective licensing scheme.

What happens if I don’t get a licence?

Ignore the law and you could pay a heavy price. You risk being prosecuted by the council and if found guilty you could get a criminal record, be fined an unlimited amount and ordered to pay court costs and victim surcharge.

Alternatively, the council can issue you with a civil penalty notice of up to £30,000 for not having the correct licence without any warning being given, so this is really serious stuff.

You could also be subject to a Rent Repayment Order and may have to repay up to 12 months rental income.

Whilst the property is unlicensed, you can’t use a Notice of Seeking Possession under Section 21 Housing Act 1988 to evict your tenants.

And following a successful prosecution, you would probably fail a fit and proper person assessment, making it very difficult for you to obtain a property licence in the future.

Don’t put your livelihood and reputation at risk. Make sure you comply with the law.

Does the Council take much housing enforcement action?

In London, most boroughs publish information about housing prosecutions and civil financial penalties on the Mayor of London’s ‘Rogue landlord and agent checker’. You can search the database by entering a property address, landlord / agent name or by selecting the relevant borough, available here.

How many accredited landlords are there?

There are landlord accreditation schemes operated by the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and other organisations.

Whilst we don’t have any figures for the NRLA scheme, we have got information about the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme that is supported by all the London Boroughs. In January 2016, they told us there were 243 accredited landlords in Greenwich, which was the lowest number out of all London boroughs.

January 2018: 655 accredited landlords
January 2019: 793 accredited landlords
January 2020: 841 accredited landlords
January 2021: 902 accredited landlords
January 2022: 1,144 accredited landlords
January 2023: 1,337 accredited landlords

By January 2024 there were 1,679 accredited landlords which is above average when compared to all the London boroughs. To find out more about becoming accredited, you can visit the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme website here.

In addition to training and development, accredited landlords are entitled to various benefits, including discounted licensing fees in some boroughs. If you are not already a member, we would encourage you to think about joining!

Is the Council planning to introduce any new licensing schemes?

Greenwich Council consulted on plans for a replacement additional licensing scheme from 9 November 2022 to 18 January 2023. The consultation was not well advertised and the council decided to relaunch the consultation.

A second consultation took place from 13 January to 24 March 2023, further extended until 24 April 2023, and you can find out more by visiting the council’s website.

On 20 September 2023, a borough wide additional licensing scheme was approved at the Cabinet meeting (read here – agenda item 6) and the scheme came into force on 1 January 2024.

There is a lot happening in Greenwich and so we will monitor the situation closely. For all the latest news, you can sign up to our free newsletter.

Do I need planning permission for my HMO?

You will need planning permission if you are changing your property from a single-family property to a house in multiple occupation (HMO) occupied by more than six people. HMOs occupied by more than six people fall within ‘sui-generis’ use for which planning permission is required. You will also need planning permission if you a splitting up a property into smaller self-contained units of accommodation.

For small HMOs, the rules are a bit more complicated. HMOs occupied and shared by between three and six people fall into planning use class C4 whereas single-family properties fall into planning use class C3.

On 27 September 2017, the council made a non-immediate borough-wide HMO Article 4 Direction which was later confirmed.

From 27 September 2018, planning permission is required to change any property from a single-family home (use class C3) to an HMO with up to six occupants (use class C4). So even letting your property to three people who are not all related could require planning permission.

The changes are not retrospective and so properties converted into small HMOs (use class C4) before that date are not affected. More information is available on the council’s website.

Remember that this is only intended as general advice and no liability can be accepted for any reliance upon information provided. We would strongly encourage you to contact the Council’s Planning Department or seek independent legal advice before you start a new HMO development.