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If you fail to get a licence, you could receive an unlimited fine upon prosecution and be given a criminal record, or receive a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence, and may be banned from running a rental property.
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.
Use our handy tool to find out if you need a licence:
If the property is in the wards of Dudden Hill, Kensal Green, Kilburn, Mapesbury or Queen's Park it falls under the:
There are three different types of licences for privately rented accommodation:
A mandatory HMO licence is needed if your property:
This licence is for all privately rented properties occupied by three or four people making up two or more households.
An additional licence applies to HMOs that does not fall within the remit of the mandatory HMO licensing scheme.
These are properties that:
Following the local elections in May 2022, Brent now has 22 wards. In addition, all previous ward boundaries have changed (except Kilburn).
These boundary changes do not affect the areas covered by Brent’s selective licensing scheme.
The scheme continues to cover any properties that fall within the current ward of Kilburn and those located in the old ward boundaries of Dudden Hill, Queens Park, Mapesbury and Kensal Green.
If you have a property in these areas you still need a selective licence.
You can use our online map to check if your property is located within the selective licensing designation.
If you were not in the selective licence area before the boundary changes took effect, you do not need a licence now.
The selective licensing designation remains in place until 30 April 2023.
Legal changes to property licence fee payments - Applicants for licences now only need to pay the first part of the fee with their application. The Council will request the additional “fee on grant of licence” just before the licence is issued. After an HMO Licence is granted, refunds will only be made in exceptional circumstances because the fees are calculated to cover the Council’s costs. If have any queries on this matter, please email us on prslicensing@brent.gov.uk or 020 8937 2384.
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 may be issued for up to five years
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
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
Read our privacy notice which explains what information we collect, how we use your information.
You will also need to provide the following information:
Details of fire alarm system and health and safety provisions in place, for example extinguishers, alarm sounders, fire doors and emergency lighting.
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.
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.
| Type of licence | New application fee | Part 1 - Fee on application (non-refundable) | Part 2 - Fee on grant of Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory Licensing Scheme | £840 plus £25 for each additional habitable room over five habitable rooms | £540 | £300 |
| Additional Licensing scheme | £840 | £540 | £300 |
| Selective Licensing scheme | £540 | £340 | £200 |
| Type of licence | New application fee | Part 1 - Fee on application (non-refundable) | Part 2 - Fee on grant of Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory Licensing Scheme | £740 plus £25 for each additional habitable room over five habitable rooms | £440 | £300 |
| Additional Licensing scheme | £740 | £440 | £300 |
| Selective Licensing scheme | £500 | £300 | £200 |
| Service | Fee reduction |
|---|---|
| London Landlord Accreditation Scheme membership | £40 |
If you are unable to complete the online application, we can provide assistance to complete the application
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Assistance completing application | £100 |
There is no charge to:
| Type of application | Fee or charge |
|---|---|
| Change of the existing licence holder | A new application must be made |
| Application to licence after one has been taken away | Initial application fee |
| Application received following the expiry of a Temporary Exemptions Notice (TEN) made by the council | Initial application fee |
| Applicant withdraws application | Initial application fee with no refund |
| Change of licence type (e.g. if a single dwelling is re-let as a House in Multiple Occupation | New application fee |
We will give a refund for a property licence if an application was made by mistake. Situations considered to be a mistake are if:
A property is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) if it is:
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.
A self contained unit is one which has inside it a kitchen (or cooking area), bathroom and toilet for the exclusive use of the household living in the unit.
If the occupiers need to leave the unit to gain access to any one of these amenities that unit isn't self contained.
A purpose built block of flats is not a HMO. However, an individual flat within it might be if it is let to tenants who share amenities (at least one of whom is unrelated). The flat will be subject to mandatory licensing if there are five or more tenants sharing amenities.
If the property is a flat within a purpose built block with 3 or more flats, it will need an Additional licence.
If the block is a house which has been converted entirely into self-contained flats the conversion will be regarded by us as an HMO if it does not comply at least with the standards of the 1991 Building Regulations and if more than one third of the flats are let out on short leases.
The following are 'households' for the purposes of the Housing Act 2004:
Members of the same family living together including:
Any domestic staff are also included in the household if they are living rent-free in accommodation provided by the person for whom they are working.
Therefore three friends sharing together are considered three households. If a couple are sharing with a third person that would consist of two households. If a family rents a property that is a single household. If that family had an au-pair to look after their children that person would be included in their household.
When counting the number of storeys in the building you need to include:
You do not need to count basements used for business or storage unless the basement is the only, or principal, entrance to the HMO from the street.
We will be able to advise you, whether or not mezzanine floors should be included as separate floors in an HMO depending on their location and use.
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) will apply across all residential premises and is concerned with avoiding, or at the very least, minimising potential hazards (it doesn't set out minimum standards).
We have to be satisfied that there are no category 1 hazards (the most severe hazards) in licensable HMOs within 5 years of granting a licence. This may require us to carry out an HHSRS inspection on a property. We may choose to make this inspection when deciding whether to grant a licence or we may decide to inspect at a later date.
Under HHSRS, you may have to carry out work to remedy any identified hazards. The sort of work that needs to be carried out and the severity of the enforcement measures will vary depending on how serious the problem is. However, we cannot put conditions on a licence requiring work to be done on the property under the HHSRS.
In certain circumstances, you can change a property from a HMO to a single dwelling and HMO licensing cannot be used to require a property to remain occupied as an HMO.
However certain HMOs, whether or not they are licensable, require change-of-use planning permission to be converted back to a single dwelling. If your property has planning permission and if we are is in need of low cost accommodation it is possible that they may not allow change of use to convert the building back to a single dwelling.
If a licensed property is let in a way which takes it out of being a licensable HMO the licence will remain in force until its end-date (unless we agree to revoke it). However, proof would have to be given to us to show that it was not being used as a HMO once the licence had run out.
Failure to apply for a licence is a criminal offence and can result in a fine of up to £20,000.
In certain cases, rent from housing benefit or paid by tenants themselves can be reclaimed if you are found to be operating a licensable HMO without a licence.
If you have been convicted of the offence (or we are satisfied that the offence has been committed even though the landlord has not been prosecuted), we can reclaim any benefits paid when you were operating without a licence by applying for a Rent Repayment Order.
Similarly, tenants (including former tenants) are also allowed to make an application for a Rent Repayment Order where you have been convicted of the offence or where a Rent Repayment Order has already been granted to us on the same property.
By law we need to keep a register of:
The register will contain the address of the licence holder.
You can view the full Property Licensing Register (.pdf, 769.8kB) or check if a property is licensed.
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.
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.
Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm