News
New property licensing schemes have been launched in Hammersmith and Fulham
Two new property licensing schemes came into force in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on 5 June 2022.
The council previously operated a borough wide additional licensing scheme plus a selective licensing scheme that extended licensing to all private rented homes in 128 streets. Both schemes ended on 4 June 2022.
New additional licensing scheme
The new additional licensing scheme is very similar to the scheme operated by Hammersmith and Fulham Council from 2017 to 2022. It includes all shared accommodation and bedsit-HMOs occupied by three or more people comprising two or more households.
Having listened to feedback, the council have stepped back from licensing all section 257 HMOs. Instead, licensing of section 257 HMOs is restricted to certain buildings converted into flats where:
- None of the flats are owner-occupied; and
- The building is not owned or managed by two or more of the leasehold owners of individual flats within it, either acting individually or through a management company of which they are directors or officers, and
- The building is not in a street subject to selective licensing.
New selective licensing scheme
Under the new scheme that came into force on 5 June 2022, selective licensing has been scaled back quite considerably. Whereas the previous selective licensing scheme included all private rented properties in 128 streets, the new scheme covered just 24 streets. The only streets now subject to selective licensing are:
- Askew Road
- Baron’s Court Road
- Bloemfontein Road
- Blythe Road
- Coningham Road
- Crookham Road
- Dalling Road
- Dawes Road
- Fulham Road
- Goldhawk Road
- Greyhound Road
- King Street
- Lime Grove
- New King’s Road
- North End Road
- Richmond Way
- Scrubs Lane
- Shepherd’s Bush Road
- Sinclair Road
- Talgarth Road
- Uxbridge Road
- Wandsworth Bridge Road
- Wood Lane
- Woodstock Grove
Adjustment to licensing fees
In a move that is sure to be welcomed by the lettings industry, additional and selective licensing fees have increased by just under one percent, from £555 to £560. For a small HMO occupied by four people, this represents the lowest additional licensing fee in London (London Property Licensing research, 2022).
The situation for mandatory HMO licensing is slightly different. Fees for an HMO occupied by five people have increased by just under seven percent, from £1,215 to £1,300, which is just under the London average for this size of property.
The cost for larger HMOs has shown a bigger increase. For example, a ten bedroom HMO has increased by over sixty percent from £1,290 to £2,100.
Our free guide with more information about property licensing and HMO planning rules in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham is available here.
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