You need to study the arrangements carefully as there are three different licensing schemes in Tower Hamlets.
You may need a licence if you rent your property to a single family or individual as Tower Hamlets Council have implemented a selective licensing scheme in certain parts of the borough. The scheme came into force on 1 October 2016 and last for five years until 30 September 2021.
If you rent your property as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), you will need to get it licensed under either the additional licensing scheme, the selective licensing scheme or the mandatory HMO licensing scheme that applies throughout England. The additional licensing scheme started on 1 April 2019.
If you think you may need a licence, you now need to decide which one. We will try to 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 started on 1 April 2019 and continues for five years until 31 March 2024, unless the council decide to implement a replacement scheme.
It applies to all HMOs in the borough that are occupied by three or more people, except for those in the pre 2014 wards of Weavers, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Banglatown. In effect, the scheme excludes the area covered by their selective licensing scheme.
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.
The council have simplified things slightly by restricting the licensing of section 257 HMOs to situations where all the flats are privately rented. This is a complex area of law and you may need further advice.
3. Selective licence
You need a selective licence if your property (house or flat) is let out to a single person, couple or single household in Whitechaple, Weavers, Spitalfields and Banglatown, based on the council ward boundaries that existed pre 22 May 2014 – in the west of the borough.
The selective licensing scheme will also apply to most HMOs in that area that are not already licensed under the mandatory HMO licensing scheme.
To find out if your property is in one of these areas, you can carry out a postcode search on the council’s website.