Property licensing

People in Brent have a right to expect well-managed, decent and safe standard of private rented accommodation. If you own or manage a property that is rented out to five or more people who are unrelated, you will need to get a licence regardless of the number of storeys in the building.

Types of property licences

There are three different types of licences for privately rented accommodation in Brent:

Use our handy tool to find out if you need a licence and which one:

The following form covers Selective, Additional and Mandatory licenses

A Selective Licence application takes approximately 15 minutes and a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) will take around 30 minutes to complete. You can save the form at any stage and go back to it if you need to.

Before you apply

The person applying must be the landlord or the agent who is responsible for managing the property - this should also be the person who is able to authorise, organise and pay for essential repairs to the property. A licence is for the property and not for you as an individual. If you have properties outside of the borough you will need to apply for a licence with the relevant local authority.

Property licence fee payments

Licence fees are taken in two parts:

• Part A will be taken upon application and will cover the cost to process and the administration to determine the application. the application fee is non-refundable, regardless of whether the application is successful.
• Part B will be taken once the council has determined to grant a licence and will cover the administration, management, and enforcement of the licensing functions for the scheme.

You are not obligated to make payment of the second part in advance of this stage, however we are willing to comply with requests for this. Should you proceed with this option and your licence is subsequently refused, you will be entitled to a refund for the Part B payment. Choose Option 1 - I wish to make a single payment for the full licence fee (i.e. both parts upfront as a single payment).

If you choose to pay only the first part of the licence fee with your application (known as a split payment), the Council will request the remaining “fee on grant of licence” shortly before your licence is issued.

Once a licence is granted, refunds will only be made in exceptional circumstances, and the Council will recover all its costs incurred.

If the final payment is not made within 28 days of the Council’s request, your application may be cancelled with no refund. Your property will then remain unlicensed, and you may face enforcement action, including a Civil Penalty fine or Prosecution.

If have any queries on this matter, please email us on prslicensing@brent.gov.uk or call 020 8937 2384/5.

A licence may be issued for up to five years.

What you'll need for your application

1. Full details of the licence holder (if the applicant is not the proposed licence holder). The licence holder must be the landlord or the person who is responsible for managing the property (to whom the tenants pay rent to).
2. Details of freeholder(s) and lease holder(s).
3. Mortgage company and any person or organisation that has a legal interest in the property.
4. A scanned copy of the current gas safe certificate. This will need to be uploaded as part of the application.
5. If you're applying for a mandatory or additional licence, you will need to categorise the rooms as follows:
• bedroom
• bedroom with WC
• bedroom with shower or bath
• bedsit (bedroom with cooking facility)
• bedsit with WC (bedroom with cooking and water closet and wash hand basin)
• self contained flats.

You will also need to provide the following information:

• the number of bedrooms, living rooms (communal rooms), communal kitchens, bathrooms, shower rooms, WC (water closet with wash hand basin)
• room sizes (in metres squared) for all bedrooms, bedsits, communal kitchens and communal rooms. (e.g. living room)
• number of cooking facilities within the communal kitchen
• the locations and description of all rooms within the property
• details of fire alarm system and health and safety provisions in place, for example extinguishers, alarm sounders, fire doors and emergency lighting.

Our privacy notice explains what information we collect and how we use your information.

What happens after you apply

Once you have applied and paid the correct fee, your application will be processed and you will be sent a draft licence, together with conditions that must be met.

The owner can make representations at this stage and, if agreed, they will be incorporated in the full licence conditions (if no agreement can be reached, the applicant has the right of appeal to the Residential Property Tribunal).

The licence will then be granted, and following this the property licence will be issued.

Inspections

Following the issue of the licence, the property will be inspected within the licence period. This is to ensure that the conditions are being met and that there are no serious hazards within the property.

Our fees and charges are being kept as low as possible. We do not make a profit from the scheme. Income from the licence fee goes towards the setup, running and enforcement of the scheme.

Selective licensing applies to all privately rented residential properties occupied by no more than 2 people, or 1 family households.

The council undertook a public consultation on the proposed schemes between 31 October 2022 and 23 January 2023. Two new schemes were approved by Brent Cabinet in 2023.

The licencing schemes are being introduced as designations.

Designation 1

Designation 1, came into force on 1 August 2023 and covers the three wards of Harlesden & Kensal Green, Dollis Hill and Willesden Green.

Designation 2

Designation 2 was approved on 17 July 2023 and was confirmed by the Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities, on 30 November 2023. This scheme covers all other 18 wards in Brent, except for the Wembley Park ward.

For both designations, If you want to rent out a property to a single person, two people or single household (not a HMO) you will need a licence.

About the scheme

The number of properties in Brent that are rented out by private landlords has increased over the last 20 years. It is important that these properties are well-managed and provide tenants with a decent and safe standard of accommodation.

To help achieve this, in 2015 and 2018, we introduced a selective licensing scheme for privately rented properties in the wards of: Harlesden, Wembley Central, Willesden Green, Dudden Hill, Kilburn, Queens Park, Kensal Green and Mapesbury. These schemes lasted for five years and ended 31 December 2019 and 30 April 2023, respectively. They were replaced by the Designation 1 and 2 described above.

Read the conditions for the Selective licence

The Brent Additional Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing scheme was approved by Brent Council’s Cabinet on 13 October 2025 and comes into force on 2 February 2026.

The Additional HMO Licence applies to privately rented properties occupied by three or four people from two or more households. It also includes HMOs not covered by mandatory licensing, such as section 257 HMOs (unless exempt) and HMOs in purpose-built flats (blocks with three or more self-contained flats). Properties with more than four people from two or more households will continue to fall under the Mandatory HMO licensing scheme, which remains unchanged.

The Additional HMO Licence applies to privately rented properties occupied by three or four people from two or more households. Properties with more than four people from two or more households will continue to fall under the Mandatory HMO licensing scheme, which remains unchanged.

What does this mean for you?

• You will need to apply for a new renewal Additional HMO Licence after 2 February 2026 at the new fees.

What we are doing

• Our website will accept applications for this licence from 17 November 2025.
• All new and renewal licence applications received before 2 February 2026 will be processed at the current fee (new = £840 and renewal = £740).
• Existing licences remain valid until their expiry date.
• Compliance inspections will continue to ensure safety.

If your HMO is not licensed

• If you don't get a licence, you could get an unlimited fine upon prosecution and a criminal record or receive a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence and may be banned from running a rental property.
• As a tenant, you may be able to apply for a rent repayment order to reclaim up to 12 months' rent.

View the Public Notice of Designation.

Read the conditions for the Additional Licence

For more information, email prslicensing@brent.gov.uk or call 020 8937 2384/5.

A property is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) if it is:

• a shared house that is occupied by more than one household and who share one or more amenities (i.e. w/c, wash hand basin, shower, bath, cooking facilities)
• a house divided into bedsits, occupied by people who do not form one household and who share one or more amenities
• an individual flat occupied by more than one household and who share one or more amenities
• a building of self-contained flats that do not meet as a minimum standard the requirements of the 1991 Building Regulation, and where at least one third of the flats are privately rented.

In order to be an HMO the property must be used as the tenants' only or main residence and it should be used solely or mainly to house tenants.

Properties let to students and migrant workers will be treated as their only or main residence and the same will apply to properties which are used as domestic refuges.

By law we need to keep a register of:

• licensed properties
• details of the licence holder
• temporary exemption notices issued (relating to property licensing)
• management orders.

Search the Property Licensing Register

You can view the full Property Licensing Register  or check if a property is licensed.

If you do not licence your property

It is now against the law for any landlord to rent out a property in Brent without a licence. We work with the Metropolitan Police and other agencies to find unlicensed properties and take legal action.

Landlords with unlicensed rented properties can face a financial penalty notice of up to £30,000 or an unlimited fine from the court. You could also have control of your unlicensed properties taken away from you and be ordered to repay up to 12 months' rent to us or your tenants.

Report an unlicensed property

If you suspect a private rented property within the borough to be unlicensed, you can tell us using our online form.

We recommend that you renew your property licence at least 60 days before your current license expires.

You will need to send in your supporting documents, license and pay the renewal fee.

If we receive your application after the date of the previous licence, you will need to pay the “new application” fee and you may be subject to failure of license enforcement.

It is cheaper to renew rather than make a new application. We do not offer any further discounts.

As a landlord, if you have:

• failed to get a valid property licence
• illegally evicted or harassed you
• used or threatened violence to enter your home
• failed to comply with an Improvement Notice served by the council
• failed to comply with a Prohibition Order served by the council or
• breached a Banning Order

your tenant has the right, under the Housing & Planning Act 2016 to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a Rent Repayment Order which will require you to repay your tenant up to 12 months’ rent.