Skip to main content
MTDRecognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital
LetComplianceLandlord & property management software

London · Compliance hub

London landlord compliance 2026

London's private rented sector is the largest and most heavily regulated in the UK. Every one of the 33 boroughs sets its own licensing scheme on top of national rules, and many run selective licensing in defined wards. This page summarises what a London landlord must hold in 2026 on top of the core compliance stack: Gas Safety (CP12), EICR, EPC, deposit protection, Right to Rent and Renters Rights Act duties.
Council areas
32 covered in detail
PRS deadline
14 Oct 2027
Schemes designated
4
Council
Official page
Boroughs
33each sets its own scheme
Average rent
£2,150per month, ONS Q1 2026
HMO licensing
5+ occupantsmandatory nationwide
Active selective licensing
20+ boroughsas of Q2 2026

Local licensing

What is designated in London

Schemes run for a fixed period and are redesignated, widened or dropped. Confirm the current position with London borough councils before you let a property.

Mandatory HMO licensing

Mandatory HMO

Any HMO with 5 or more occupants from 2 or more households needs a mandatory licence from the borough. Fees range from ~£500 to £1,100 for 5 years.

Additional licensing (smaller HMOs)

Additional licensing

At least 15 London boroughs operate additional licensing for HMOs with 3-4 occupants. Examples include Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Lambeth and Waltham Forest.

Selective licensing (non-HMO rentals)

Selective licensing

Newham, Croydon, Waltham Forest and several others require a licence for every private rental in defined wards. Operating without one can mean civil penalties of up to £40,000 and Rent Repayment Orders.

Article 4 directions (planning)

Article 4 planning

Several boroughs have Article 4 directions removing permitted development for conversion to HMO. Planning consent is required before converting a C3 dwelling.

London borough councils

Once it is licensed, keep it that way. LetCompliance flags when a property’s postcode and tenants point to a mandatory, additional or selective licence, reminds you 90, 30 and 7 days before the licence expires, and runs an HMO room by room with each room’s rent and arrears. Get started, from £7.99 a month →

PRS Database

When landlords in London must register

London is in the London region. Registration becomes required there on 15 July 2027, and the deadline is 14 October 2027. Every let home in England goes on the new Private Rented Sector Database, and the date is set by where the property is, not where you live. Everything for London.

  1. Opens to everyone

    Any property can be registered early, wherever it is.

  2. Required in London

    The three-month window to register starts.

  3. Deadline

    After this date the council can take enforcement action.

The fee is £65 a year for each property, pro-rated during the rollout. Miss the deadline and the council can impose a penalty of up to £7,000. While a let that should be registered is not, a court cannot make a possession order for it, except on the antisocial behaviour Grounds 7A and 14 (Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 90). Dates from the GOV.UK Housing Hub, checked 23 September 2026.

Get ready in LetCompliance

Seventeen answers a property. Have them on one page before 15 July 2027.

The register asks the same 17 things about every home you let, from the number of households to copies of the gas safety record, the EICR and the EPC. LetCompliance builds a register pack for each property from the records you keep in it: what is ready, what is missing, and the certificate files to upload. Registering becomes copying from one page.

  • A register pack for every property

    All 17 items, filled in from the tenancy, rent, licence and certificate records you already keep.

  • The gaps, said plainly

    Each gap links to the page where you fill it in, so they are closed weeks ahead, not on the deadline.

  • Reminders on the London dates

    An email the day registration becomes required, then 30 and 7 days before 14 Oct 2027, for every property not yet marked registered.

Get your register packCheck your readiness first

Included on every plan.

Local figures

Renting in London: the official numbers

Counted from official sources on 6 October 2026.

Average rent
£2,332a month, +3.5% on a year earlier (ONS, August 2026)
Section 21 claims
3,220accelerated possession claims, April to June 2026, up 10% on a year earlier (2,923)
Rent repayment orders
177made in 229 published decisions since January 2025, £1,858,751 ordered in all
Rent challenges
382rent increases decided by the tribunal since January 2025, 162 of them since 1 May 2026

Sources: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (released 16 September 2026); Ministry of Justice possession statistics, April to June 2026, by the council of the defendant’s address; residential property tribunal decisions published on GOV.UK, by the council in the case reference. How each was counted: Section 21 claims, rent repayment orders, rent challenges and rents by council.

National duties

The duties that apply in London whatever the council does

A licence sits on top of these, it does not replace them. Renewal cycles and maximum penalties are the same everywhere in England; the council is the body that enforces them locally.

DutyRenewalMaximum penalty
Gas SafetyGas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998Every 12 monthsUnlimited fine + up to 2 years in prison
EICRElectrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020Every 5 years£40,000 per property
EPCEnergy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015Every 10 years / on new tenancy£5,000 per property
DepositHousing Act 2004, as amended by the Localism Act 201130 days from receipt1-3× deposit as damages
Right to RentImmigration Act 2014, amended by Immigration Act 2016Before tenancy startsUp to £20,000 per occupant
Section 8Housing Act 1988, s.8 (as amended by Renters’ Rights Act 2025)When seeking possessionPossession refused if compliance missing
RRA 2025Renters' Rights Act 2025 (Royal Assent 27 Oct 2025; principal commencement 1 May 2026)Phase-in from 1 May 2026£7,000 → £40,000 (serious/repeat) + unlimited criminal

Each row links to the full duty: what it obliges you to do, what happens when it is missed and how to stay on top of it. Read the national guide.

If you get it wrong

What letting without a licence costs

These are statutory rather than local. London borough councils can use all three, and a tenant can bring the second one without the council being involved at all.

Civil penalty
Up to £40,000Imposed by the council itself, without a prosecution. Serious or repeated breaches sit at the top of the range.
Rent Repayment Order
Up to 2 years’ rentThe tenant, or the council, applies to the First-tier Tribunal to have rent paid back. Separate from the penalty above, not instead of it.
Prosecution
Unlimited fineLetting an unlicensed HMO, or breaching a licence condition, is a criminal offence and can be prosecuted rather than penalised.

By council

Ward and council breakdown in London

Licensing, Article 4 status and enforcement change street by street. These pages carry the scheme, the typical fee and the council's own checker.

London Borough of HackneyBorough-wide additional HMO licensing plus designated selective schemes.London Borough of Tower HamletsBorough-wide selective licensing proposed / active plus additional HMO licensing.London Borough of NewhamThe UK’s longest-running borough-wide selective licensing scheme.London Borough of Waltham ForestBorough-wide selective licensing with very active enforcement.London Borough of CroydonBorough-wide selective licensing renewed for a further 5 years.London Borough of LewishamDesignated-area selective licensing plus additional HMO scheme.London Borough of SouthwarkAdditional HMO licensing borough-wide; selective designated in specific wards.London Borough of LambethAdditional HMO licensing plus borough-wide selective scheme proposed/active.London Borough of HaringeyBorough-wide selective and additional HMO licensing in recent cycles.London Borough of EnfieldSelective licensing through ward designations plus additional HMO.London Borough of BrentBorough-wide additional HMO plus selective in specific wards.London Borough of IslingtonAdditional HMO borough-wide; active fire-safety enforcement.London Borough of CamdenAdditional HMO plus selective in specific sub-areas.London Borough of Barking & DagenhamBorough-wide selective licensing scheme.London Borough of RedbridgeSelective licensing in designated wards plus additional HMO.London Borough of EalingFour schemes at once: mandatory, additional for 3 to 4 person HMOs, section 257 for converted blocks, and selective in designated areas.London Borough of HounslowAdditional HMO licensing has covered the whole borough since 11 December 2025, so every HMO needs a licence.Royal Borough of GreenwichMandatory and additional licensing both run borough-wide, so every HMO in Greenwich has to be licensed.Wandsworth Borough CouncilSelective and additional licensing since 1 July 2025, with a second selective designation adding three more wards from April 2026.London Borough of Hammersmith & FulhamMandatory and additional HMO licensing across the borough, plus selective licensing on 24 named streets.London Borough of MertonAdditional licensing in seven wards, selective in four of them, and an Article 4 direction over the same ground.London Borough of HarrowSelective licensing in designated areas and additional licensing from three occupants, with one scheme per property.London Borough of BarnetHMO licensing today, and a selective licensing scheme proposed for ten wards.Westminster City CouncilSelective licensing has covered 15 of Westminster’s 18 wards since 24 November 2025, so most ordinary lets now need a licence.Royal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaAdditional HMO licensing has covered the whole borough since 1 June 2023, alongside the mandatory scheme.London Borough of HaveringAdditional licensing across every ward and selective licensing in seven, both running from 18 March 2026 to 17 March 2031.London Borough of BexleyOne selective licensing ward, Belvedere, running to January 2030, with accreditation required within a year of the licence.London Borough of SuttonBorough-wide additional licensing is now live, so every HMO in Sutton needs a licence whatever its size.Royal Borough of Kingston upon ThamesNot every HMO is licensable here: the threshold stays at five, but the standards apply from three.London Borough of Richmond upon ThamesMandatory HMO licensing only, with the purpose-built flat exclusion spelled out.London Borough of BromleyMandatory HMO licensing from five occupants, including where a live-in landlord shares with four tenants.London Borough of HillingdonMandatory HMO licensing at five occupants, with the council setting out the landlord duties that come with it.

Local enforcement

How London enforces it

The rules are national. How hard they are enforced, and on what, is not.

Newham blanket licensing

Newham operates one of the longest-running selective licensing schemes in the country. Every privately rented property needs a licence. Renewals fall due every 5 years, verify current scheme status on the Newham council website.

Waltham Forest, Hackney and Tower Hamlets fines

These boroughs have historically been active enforcers, issuing civil penalties for unlicensed HMOs and HHSRS Category 1 hazards. Keep Gas, EICR and EPC records centrally; an audit-ready trail blunts enforcement.

EPC profile

Older London housing stock skews toward D-E EPCs, leaving many landlords only just above MEES. The planned EPC C standard (1 October 2030) will be particularly disruptive to Victorian and Edwardian stock.

Key dates

What is coming between now and 2030

The part a council website will not tell you. Each of these lands on every landlord in England, including here.

  1. 1 May 2026Renters’ Rights Act in forceSection 21 abolished, all tenancies become periodic, rent rises go through Section 13 once a year.
  2. 6 Apr 2026MTD for Income Tax beginsMandatory digital quarterly reporting for landlords with £50k+ qualifying income.
  3. 15 Dec 2026PRS Database opensRegistration opens, West Midlands first. Each region then has three months, with the last deadline on 14 November 2027. £65 a property a year.
  4. 14 Oct 2027London PRS Database deadlineEvery let property in London registered by this date. Registration becomes required in London on 15 July 2027.
  5. 6 Apr 2027MTD threshold drops to £30kMore landlords pulled into digital quarterly tax reporting.
  6. 6 Apr 2028MTD threshold drops to £20kMost portfolio landlords now inside MTD ITSA.
  7. 1 Oct 2030EPC C planned (MEES)The government plans for every privately rented home in England to reach EPC band C or register a valid exemption. The regulations are not made yet.

FAQs

London landlords: the questions landlords ask

Do I need a licence to let a property in London?

It depends on the borough and the type of let. Mandatory HMO licensing applies to 5+ occupant HMOs nationwide. Many boroughs layer additional HMO licensing (smaller HMOs) and selective licensing (all rentals in defined wards). Check your borough's website before marketing the property.

How do I find out if a property is in a selective licensing area?

Each borough publishes a postcode-searchable map. Newham, Croydon and Waltham Forest run borough-wide schemes. Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Enfield run ward-level schemes. Operating without a required licence is a civil penalty offence.

Does the Renters Rights Act change anything specifically for London?

No, the Act is national. But because London has high rents and active tribunals, Section 13 rent increase challenges are more common here. Landlords should use the prescribed form and keep a market-evidence file.

When do landlords in London have to register on the PRS Database?

London is in the London region. Registration becomes required there on 15 July 2027, and the deadline is 14 October 2027. Any property can be registered earlier, from 15 December 2026. The fee is £65 a year for each property, and the date follows where the property is, not where the landlord lives. While a let that should be registered is not, a court cannot make a possession order for it, except on the antisocial behaviour grounds.

Run a let through it

Every London let from one login

LetCompliance is landlord software that advertises the property, orders the tenant reference, signs the tenancy, collects the rent by Direct Debit with no commission, chases the arrears, runs the repairs and prepares the tax. The licence and certificate dates sit inside that, each with a reminder before it lapses. Plans from £7.99 a month.

Get started, from £7.99 a monthSee everything it does

Other cities

BlackpoolSalfordBoltonWolverhamptonDerbyManchesterBirminghamLeedsLiverpoolBristolSheffieldNewcastle upon TyneNottinghamBrighton & HoveOxfordCambridgeReadingSouthamptonLeicesterCoventryBradfordYork