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London · Council area

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames: landlord licensing 2026

Mandatory HMO licensing only, with the purpose-built flat exclusion spelled out.
PRS deadline
14 Oct 2027
Updated
Licensing reviewed
Council
Official page
Mandatory HMO

In force here

Licensing in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Schemes are designated for a fixed period and are redesignated, widened or dropped. Treat this as the shape of the local regime and confirm the current designation on the council’s own licensing page before you let.

  • A licence is required where all of these apply: five or more occupiers in two or more separate households regardless of storeys; a house or self-contained flat that is not a purpose-built flat in a block of three or more; shared amenities; at least one occupier pays rent or the accommodation is linked to their employment; it is their main residence; and it is not an exempt property
  • A property is an HMO from three tenants in more than one household sharing a toilet, bathroom or kitchen, even where no licence is required
  • A temporary exemption notice is available where you are taking steps so the property no longer needs a licence
  • Operating a licensable HMO without a licence is an offence that can lead to a financial penalty or a conviction in court

If Richmond upon Thames licenses your house as an HMO, keep the licence with the let.

LetCompliance holds it on the property beside the tenancy and the rent: the type, the council’s reference, the dates and how many people it allows. It emails you 90, 30 and 7 days before the licence runs out, and warns you if a tenant moving in would put more people in the property than the licence permits.

How it runs a shared houseStart with a 3-day trial, no cardPlans from £7.99 a month

Wards and postcodes

What each postcode here covers, ward by ward

The four outward codes on this guide touch 13 electoral wards between them. Two of them cross a council boundary (TW1 into Hounslow; TW10 into Kingston upon Thames), and nothing Richmond upon Thames designates applies on the far side of it. Wards from the ONS postcode directory, checked 18 September 2026. Designations follow ward and sometimes street boundaries, so knowing the ward narrows it down; the council’s own designation is the answer for the address.

Local rents

What lets for in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Office for National Statistics, August 2026 (released 16 September 2026): the average private rent on new and existing tenancies. A council average is not the market rent of a particular home.

Average rent
£2,333per month, all sizes
1-bed / 2-bed
£1,732 · £2,222per month
3-bed
£2,684per month
Change in a year
+4.4%to August 2026

Richmond upon Thames’ average private rent, £2,333 a month, is £1 more than the London average of £2,332, and the 11th highest of the 32 councils in London that ONS publishes. Over the year to August 2026 it rose 4.4%, against a rise of 3.5% across London.

Every council in England is on the UK rent statistics page, with the national and regional averages.

Local figures

Renting in Richmond upon Thames: the official numbers

Counted from official sources on 6 October 2026.

Section 21 claims
29accelerated possession claims, April to June 2026, up 81% on a year earlier (16)
Rent repayment orders
0no published tribunal decisions since January 2025
Rent challenges
5rent increases decided by the tribunal since January 2025, 2 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.

PRS Database

When landlords in Richmond upon Thames must register

Richmond upon Thames 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, most of them 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.

Check your address

Three steps before you let the property

Designations are drawn by ward and sometimes by street, so the only answer that counts is the one for your address.

  1. Check the address on the council’s own licensing pages

    It is the only source that is definitive for this borough, and it is the one the council will hold you to.

    London Borough of Richmond upon Thames licensing

  2. Check the property against the national thresholds

    Mandatory HMO licensing is national, not local: five or more occupants forming two or more households need a licence wherever the property is, with no local scheme required.

    Free postcode licensing checker

  3. Get the evidence together before you apply

    Most applications ask for the same documents you already owe the tenant: the gas safety record, the EICR, the EPC, and the fire detection and escape arrangements for an HMO. The council’s list is the one that counts, but nothing on it will be a surprise if those are current.

National duties

The duties that apply here whatever the council does

A licence sits on top of these, it does not replace them. Renewal cycles and maximum penalties are the same in every England council area.

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 the practical way to stay on top of it. Read the national guide.

If you get it wrong

What letting without a licence costs

These are statutory, not local. A council that has designated a scheme 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. It is 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.

FAQs

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames: the questions landlords ask

Is a purpose-built flat licensable in Richmond?

Not under the mandatory scheme if it sits in a block of three or more self-contained flats. The licence conditions exclude it, although the property can still be an HMO for the purposes of the management regulations.

What is a temporary exemption notice in Richmond?

It applies where you already hold a licence and are taking steps so the property stops needing one, for example by reducing the number of occupiers. You apply to the council rather than simply stopping.

When do landlords in Richmond upon Thames have to register on the PRS Database?

Richmond upon Thames 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.

Reviewed by Erdem Volkan, last checked 18 September 2026. General information about the rules in this area, not advice on a specific property or dispute.

London councils

The neighbouring areas

Schemes differ street by street across London. The London guide covers the city-wide picture.

London Borough of HackneySelective licensing in 17 of the 21 wards and additional HMO licensing borough-wide, both from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2031.London Borough of Tower HamletsBorough-wide additional HMO licensing to March 2029. The selective scheme closed on 30 September 2026.London Borough of NewhamSelective and additional licensing in every ward except Royal Victoria and Stratford Olympic Park.London Borough of Waltham ForestSelective licensing in 20 of 22 wards to April 2030, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing to March 2030.London Borough of CroydonSelective licensing in fourteen wards and additional HMO licensing borough-wide, both from 25 September 2026.London Borough of LewishamSelective licensing across most of the borough to 1 July 2029, borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 4 April 2027, and an Article 4 direction over the whole borough.London Borough of SouthwarkSelective licensing in 19 of 23 wards, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 1 March 2027.London Borough of LambethSelective licensing in 23 of 25 wards, all but Vauxhall and Waterloo & South Bank, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 8 December 2026.London Borough of HaringeySelective licensing in 14 wards to 17 November 2027, borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 16 June 2029, and an Article 4 direction in the same 14 wards.London Borough of EnfieldSelective licensing in 17 wards from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2031, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2030.London Borough of BrentSelective licensing in every ward except Wembley Park, borough-wide additional HMO licensing since 2 February 2026, and an Article 4 direction on small HMOs.London Borough of IslingtonSelective licensing in Finsbury Park, Hillrise and Tollington, seven more wards from 23 November 2026, and additional HMO licensing.London Borough of CamdenBorough-wide additional HMO licensing from 8 December 2025 to 8 December 2030, and no selective licensing scheme.London Borough of Barking & DagenhamSelective licensing in every ward to 5 April 2030, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 8 January 2030.London Borough of RedbridgeSelective licensing in 17 wards across two schemes, and borough-wide additional HMO licensing to 17 September 2028.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 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.

Run a let through it

Every Richmond upon Thames let from one login

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