London Borough of Lambeth
If you need help understanding the property licensing rules in Lambeth, 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 HMO licensing scheme.
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
There are currently two property licensing schemes operating in Lambeth. 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 licensing
The additional licensing scheme came into force on 9 December 2021 and continues for five years. You can view the public notice in the ‘At a Glance’ box on the top right of this page.
The scheme applies to all HMOs in the London Borough of Lambeth, so that includes all properties shared by three or more people who are not all related and share facilities. You can view the public notice in the ‘At a Glance’ box on the top right of this webpage.
We understand the council have included ‘section 257 HMOs: certain converted blocks of flats’ in the scheme. These are properties that:
- have been converted into self-contained flats; and
- less than two thirds of the flats are owner occupied; and
- the conversion did not comply with the relevant Building Regulations in force at that time and still does not comply.
To find out more, you can read our free guide to additional licensing (here).
Lambeth Council charge a standard HMO licence fee of £506 per bedroom so that is £2,530 for a shared house with five separate lettings.
There is a 20% discount for accredited landlords and members of certain professional bodies. It’s good to see accredited landlords being rewarded in this way and so you may wish to consider joining the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme or another recognised organisation to benefit.
The fees were correct as of March 2024 but could be subject to change in the future. You can view the fees in full on the council’s website.
Lambeth Council have an online application system that can be found on the council’s website.
We offer a licence application handling service in Lambeth and you can find further information here. Simply complete the online enquiry form to get the process underway.
If you need assistance with your licence application, you can find 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.
Yes, Lambeth Council have published a suite of HMO standards. They have separate standards covering shared houses, bedsits, self-contained converted flats and hostels. You can view all the standards on the council’s website.
The standards cover a range of issues such as kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities, room sizes, fire precautions, heating, lighting and ventilation.
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 apply throughout England to HMOs licensed under a mandatory HMO or additional licensing scheme.
A Lambeth Council report published in December 2023 said they had received 4,639 HMO licence applications, of which 622 mandatory HMO licences and 1,605 additional licences had been granted. The other applications were still being processed.
Lambeth Council keeps a public register of licensed HMOs that can be searched on the council’s website. If you want to view the full register, you will need to contact the council.
Yes, there do seem to be. In May 2019, Lambeth Council told us they thought there were about 4,000 properties that need a licence under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme. The council estimate another 5,000 HMOs need licensing under their additional licensing scheme.
If you are the landlord of one of those properties, it’s important to get your property licensed to avoid the consequences of non-compliance.
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 a 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.
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.
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 820 accredited landlords in Lambeth, which was the second highest out of all London boroughs.
January 2018: 1,042 accredited landlords
January 2019: 1,130 accredited landlords
January 2020: 1,245 accredited landlords
January 2021: 1,382 accredited landlords
January 2022: 1,861 accredited landlords
January 2023: 2,096 accredited landlords
By January 2024 there were 2,396 accredited landlords, which is the third highest 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!
Yes, from 11 December 2023 to 4 March 2024, Lambeth Council consulted on plans to implement two selective licensing schemes.
According to the council, the phase one scheme would cover the council wards of Knights Hill, Streatham Common & Vale, Streatham Hill East and Streatham St. Leonards.
Subject to approval by the Secretary of State, the phase two scheme would cover another nineteen wards. Whilst the consultation has ended, you can find out more information on the council’s website.
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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 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.
In March 2024, we checked Lambeth Council’s website and found no HMO Article 4 Direction listed.
This means that you do not need planning permission for a change of use from a single-family property (use class C3) to a small HMO shared by three to six unrelated residents (use class C4), although the situation could change in the future.
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. More information can be found on the council’s website.
We certainly can. We understand the challenges of being a private landlord and so we have developed a Landlord Suppliers Directory to provide you with access to the goods and services you need. The Directory concentrates on businesses that operate in the London area.
Whether you a looking for a letting agent, want a property inventory for a new tenancy or fire risk assessment, we have got it covered – and far more besides!
As the leading experts in property licensing, we also offer a range of services ourselves. From handling the licence application process to advice on new HMO developments, we can help to ensure your property business remains compliant. If you need assistance, please drop us a line and see if we can help!
New suppliers are regularly being added and we would encourage you to take a look. Some of our featured listings also contain YouTube videos, helping you to find out more about the business.
You can contact the council at:
Private Sector Housing Team
Lambeth Council
Town Hall
Brixton Hill
London SW2 1RW
Email: hmolicensing@lambeth.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7926 4444
Website: www.lambeth.gov.uk
Latest News
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Lambeth Council are consulting on plans for selective licensing across most of the borough
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Dramatic rise in licence application fees as Lambeth’s additional licensing scheme comes into force
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Lambeth Council’s additional licensing scheme comes into force on 9 December 2021
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Still time to take part in Lambeth Council’s additional licensing consultation
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Suspended prison sentence for Lambeth council tenant who illegally sub-let her home
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Lambeth landlord ordered to pay £427,000 or face prison
Consultations
Schemes
There are currently no new licensing schemes we are aware of that are being introduced in the London Borough of Lambeth
